He must increase, I must decrease.
– John 3:30
I’ve shared it different times before how when I was younger, the student minister in my church that I grew up in, Briar Lake, he encouraged me and others to identify a life verse, a verse that you want to mark your life in such a way that at the end you look back and this verse would be true of your whole life. And this is the verse I chose.
John 3:30 calls us to die to self.
It’s John the Baptist speaking about the purpose of his life and his ministry to point people to Jesus. “He must increase, but I must decrease.” People were wanting to follow John, and he was like, “No, don’t follow me. Follow Jesus. I’m here to point you to him and for me to fade.” And ever since this became my life verse when I was younger. I, to be honest, have fought in my flesh for this to be my prayer.
Because I really think I want to exalt Jesus. I want to point people to him. But it’s the second part of this verse, “But I must decrease,” that I’m tempted to think, “Well, yes, Jesus, I want to point people to you, but I wouldn’t mind people thinking positively about me along the way.” And John is saying, “No, I want to decrease.”
So this has been ever since I was younger, my constant prayer that God would remove any and all semblances of pride or desire for myself, which is the essence of what it means to be a follower of Jesus, to die daily to yourself, to follow Jesus, to live in Jesus, to exalt Jesus, to point people to Jesus. And so I just want to lead us to pray this verse over our lives, even as I pray this verse in a fresh way over my own life today, that this verse would mark you and me.
John 3:30 challenges us to imitate John’s humble attitude.
Oh God, we praise you for John the Baptist. We praise you for the good work he did to point people to Jesus. And we praise you specifically today for his humility in saying, “My whole reason for living is to point people to Jesus so that he increases in their minds and I decrease.” And so God, we pray that this heart would be our heart today. In everything we do today, oh God, please help us to live so that Jesus increases and we decrease.
God, help us to die to ourselves, to die to sin. And anything in us that is selfish, that is self-centered, that is self-driven, that is self-promoting, self-motivated, God, we pray, help us to live fully Spirit-filled, knowing the Spirit of Jesus in us has one purpose and that’s to point to the glory of Jesus. So help us to glorify you, Jesus, with what we say today, with what we think today, with how we act today, the way we love and serve others today, the opportunities we have to share the gospel today.
God, help us not to shrink back from those opportunities because we’re concerned about what people will think about us. Help us to live so that you increase, Lord Jesus, and we decrease. We pray that this would mark our lives. God, you alone are worthy of all glory and increase in exaltation, in our lives and among all the nations.
Prayer for the Northern Uzbek People
Lord, we pray for the glory of Jesus to increase in Uzbekistan among the Northern Uzbek people. God, for 32 million of them, please, oh God, cause the name of Jesus to increase in Uzbekistan and use our lives. We pray our resources, your church, to make the glory of Jesus known in Uzbekistan, no matter what that means for us. Oh God, please help me. Please help us to live today and every day with John 3:30 at the core of who we are and what we’re living for. God, help us to live by the power of your Spirit in us so that Jesus increases and we decrease. In his name, we pray. Amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that helps people follow Jesus and make him known in their neighborhood and all nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, and Don’t Hold Back.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
