WISDOM FOR LIVING DAILY DEVOTIONAL
OCTOBER 04, 2025
TOPIC: BE FILLED WITH JOY AT OTHERS’ SUCCESS
BY T. O. BANSO
“It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success” (John 3:29 New Living Translation).
John the Baptist didn’t feel sad at the news of Jesus’ success. He reacted positively when he was told that Jesus was also baptising and everybody was going to Him. “So John’s disciples came to him and said, ‘Rabbi, the man you met on the other side of the Jordan River, the one you identified as the Messiah, is also baptizing people. And everybody is going to him instead of coming to us’” (John 3:26 New Living Translation). Jesus had been baptising people before He came to John for baptism (verse 22).
Hear John’s reply: “John replied, ‘No one can receive anything unless God gives it from heaven. You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less’” (John 3:27-30 New Living Translation).
Note what John said in verse 29: “It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the bridegroom’s friend is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at his success” (New Living Translation). Are you filled with joy at the success of others or filled with envy or jealousy?
Two of John’s disciples later defected to follow Jesus (John 1:35-40). As a pastor, if some people who are with you now decide to follow another pastor you know, will you be filled with joy at his success? This applies to everyone, not just pastors. If another person begins to get more people’s attention than you, will you be filled with joy or be filled with anger and jealousy?
As John told his disciples, no man can get anything unless God gives him from heaven (John 3:27). If it’s not of God, it shall not stand. If it’s all a matter of human arrangement, it shall not last. If it is of the devil, it shall eventually scatter, no matter how long (Acts 5:34-39).
Be filled with joy at the success of others. Don’t wish them evil. Whatever you sow, that’s what you’ll reap (Galatians 6:7). Don’t live your life in competition with anyone. Those who compare themselves with others are not wise (2 Corinthians 10:12).
Christians should complement and not compete. They should support and encourage others to succeed, rather than contribute to their failure. Thank God for John’s understanding of his divine assignment and Jesus’ assignment. Otherwise, John’s disciples would have created unnecessary acrimony between the two of them.
Leaders must be careful not to allow their followers to cause disaffection among them due to their perception of the success of their assignments. Ultimately, it is God who will mark everybody’s scripts and determine how each person has fared. In fact, He knows this already!
Thank God for what He has done for you and through you. Don’t be sad because of anyone’s success; be filled with joy. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep” (New King James Version).
Nobody’s success can stop yours. Nobody’s promotion can replace yours. Don’t hate the positive things that bring others joy. Whatever you love, you attract to your life.
Cain was not filled with joy at the success of his brother, Abel. He killed him because God accepted Abel and his sacrifice, not him and his sacrifice (Genesis 4:3-8). Did killing Abel make him acceptable to God? No. Instead, God cursed him (verses 10-15).
Proverbs 27:4 says, “Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?” (New International Version). Don’t allow jealousy. It may consume the person you’re jealous of, but it won’t spare you.
What to Do?
1. Have good thoughts towards others and pray for them. Wish them well. Pray for them. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things” (New King James Version).
Job had to obey God to pray for his friends, who had vilified him during his trial, before God restored his losses. “And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10 New King James Version). He paid their evil back with good.
1 Timothy 2:1 says that petitions, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving should be made for all people. According to Ephesians 6:18, believers should pray always in the Spirit with all kinds of prayers and requests, being alert and continually praying for all the Lord’s people.
2. Avoid competition and comparison. Stay in your lane. Let not your motivation for success be envy. Ecclesiastes 4:4 says, “Then I observed that most people are motivated to success because they envy their neighbors. But this, too, is meaningless—like chasing the wind” (New Living Translation).
There is no point in competing with others or comparing yourself with anyone. Paul says in Galatians 6:4, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else” (New Living Translation).
Paul advises again, “Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Philippians 2:3-4 New King James Version).
3. Give more honour to others than yourself. Philippians 2:3b says that in humility, you should value others above yourself. If everyone practises this, everyone will be highly esteemed!
Don’t have a superiority complex. That’s what makes people feel that they’re the only ones who deserve to succeed, not someone else, or the only people who deserve to be selected for something good, not anyone else. Why only you? Why not another person?
That was Haman’s problem. The king asked him to suggest a great way he (the king) could honour the person whom he delighted to honour. He thought he was the person the king wanted to honour. He couldn’t imagine that it would be another person.
He was devastated when he later discovered that he had suggested a great way to honour his enemy, Mordecai! He was later humiliated when the king asked him to decorate Mordecai with the honour he had suggested and lead him through the city square, announcing Mordecai’s honour by the king (Esther 6:1-13).
Don’t be a Diotrephes, who loved to be the leader, and never acknowledged authority (3 John 9-10).
4. Sincerely congratulate others on their success. Congratulate others sincerely on their success. Don’t wish it were you. There is a season for everything (Ecclesiastes 3). Your time for others to congratulate you will come. There’s a season for everyone. Avoid unnecessary prayer and fasting out of envy. God sees your heart. There’s a time for feasting and there’s a time for fasting!
Saul should have congratulated David for killing Goliath, as those women did, singing his praises. Instead, he focused more on the comparison that the women made and became envious of a boy who had saved him from national embarrassment (1 Samuel 18:6-9).
5. Thank God for what He has done for you, do your best in your endeavours, and wait for your success. The latter part of Colossians 3:15 says you should be thankful. Verse 17b also talks about giving thanks to God. Colossians 4:2 says, “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful” (New International Version). Give thanksgiving top priority in your life. It will protect you from jealousy.
Give thanks in all circumstances. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus” (1 Thessalonians 5:18 New International Version). Philippians 4:6 says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done” (New Living Translation).
As you thank God, continue to do your best in your business, academics, ministry, or any other pursuit. Put in your best as you run your own race, not another person’s race. The LORD shall crown your efforts with success.
Here is the summary: walk in God’s kind of love, towards others. This is a love that is primarily of the will, rather than of emotions. Love is the fulfilment of the law (Romans 13:10b).
TAKE ACTION!
If you are not born again, you must give your heart to Jesus now. Please take the following steps: *Admit that you are a sinner and you cannot save yourself, and repent of your sins. *Confess Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. *Renounce your past way of life – your relationship with the devil and his works. *Invite Jesus into your heart. *As a mark of seriousness to mature in the faith, start attending a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church. There, they will teach you how to grow in the Kingdom of God.
Kindly say this prayer now: O Lord God, I come unto You today. I know I am a sinner, and I cannot save myself. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God who died on the cross to save me, and God raised Him on the third day. I repent of my sins and confess Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I invite Jesus into my heart. By this prayer, I know I am saved. Thank You, Jesus, for saving me and making me a child of God.
I believe you have said this prayer from your heart. Congratulations! You must join a Bible-believing, Bible-teaching, and Bible-practising church where they will teach you how to live your new life in Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourish like a palm tree and grow like a cedar of Lebanon. May you grow into Christ in all things and become all God wants you to be. I will be glad to hear from you. The Lord be with you.
PRAYER POINT: Father, I repent of envy. Please help me, Holy Spirit, to work for the success of others and celebrate them. I will be filled with joy at the success of others; I will not be envious.
(For over 900 in-depth and powerful messages by T. O. Banso, visit www.cedarministry.org).
T. O. Banso is the President of Cedar Ministry International, Abuja, Nigeria.
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