Feb. 27, 2025
Compete Or Compliment
Do you ever feel like you're in a constant race to keep up with everyone around you?
In today's episode of My Morning Devotional, host Gaby Alessi invites listeners to reflect on the idea of whether we should compete or compliment in our daily lives. Drawing from personal experiences with her siblings and friends, Gaby explores the natural inclination towards competition we often encounter as we grow and face milestones in life. By referencing Philippians 2, she challenges the notion of competition and urges us to embrace a mindset of unity, shared love, and support for one another.
Join Gaby in this thoughtful devotional as she encourages us to let go of the pressure to compete and instead focus on how we can add value to those around us, trusting in God's timing for each season of our lives.
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Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:21.399
You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1214. Today's Devo is called Compete or Compliment. Hey there. We're the Alessi's a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:32.509
That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Well, welcome back everybody. Happy Thursday.
00:00:32.969 --> 00:01:49.337
It's almost Friday, guys, and we're feeling good. I want to thank you guys for being along for this ride of this week's DeVos. I know there was a lot that I tried to pack in the first two days and then I kind of changed course yesterday and I'll continue to change course a little bit today. But I just so appreciate everybody and thank you for enduring the long episodes, the longer episodes. Hopefully what we can do is I can actually make a full video maybe in our next bonus episode that we do. And if you aren't subscribed to buy me a coffee to get our bonus episodes, this is your sign to subscribe because it's awesome. And so maybe in our next bonus episode I can share the whole detailed story and my sisters can share the story of the engagement that way. I'm not trying to squeeze it in to a five minute episode, but we're going to jump into today's devoid and it's a little bit different from the last couple of days. And it's this idea of do I compete or do I compliment? And you know, this, this idea came to me because I was speaking to our young girls at Youth the other night and I was sharing with them that in, in society and in specifically amongst women, but just overall there's a real spirit of competition that will naturally arise as you continue to grow and as you, as you continue to get older.
00:01:49.513 --> 00:02:43.780
And it kind of happens when you're in middle school first or maybe in high school when you start to see your friends get older or maybe your sisters get older or your siblings get older and people start to accomplish things that you haven't accomplished yet. So for example, your friend gets into a school or your friend, when you're younger, your friend makes it to the basketball team and you're like, man, maybe I should, maybe I should play basketball because your friend is playing basketball and that matures and then it goes into your friend made it to this college and then you feel like, man, I gotta get into that college or a better college. And then as you get in your 20s, your friends start dating, get engaged, and get married. And if you're not there, you feel this need to catch up, like you're missing out on something. And I realized that because I come from a family of three sisters and my brother. My brother's much older than us, so the three of us girls were very close in age. And this was something I always struggled with. And it was just the idea of.
00:02:44.080 --> 00:03:06.919
I felt like I always had to keep up being the youngest of three sisters of four siblings. My sisters and I. It's Stephanie, 18 months, Lauren, 18 months, me. So all of us are very close, yet still we have our age gaps, and. And we have our different seasons that those ages go through. And so as when we were younger, Stephanie would experience something or Lauren would experience something.
00:03:06.960 --> 00:04:12.340
And as the youngest, I always felt like I was missing out. Like, the fomo, the fear of missing out, like, I wasn't getting something that they were getting. And so because I was missing out, it caused this competition to rise up in me that I had to get mine. I had to go after the thing that I want, what they have, because if they have it, I have to have it. And it created just animosity. It would create just this discontentment in my heart that I didn't even realize I had until I got older. And I, I. I would try to accomplish things or I would want things, that the only reason I wanted them is because my sisters had them or my brother had them or my friends had them. But at the end of the day, it was never something that I really wanted. And I think this speaks to a lot of people, because as we get older, this tends to happen when your friends are getting married, your friends are graduating you, your friends are getting this job, your friends are having kids. All. Everybody seems to be moving on. And when you haven't accomplished those things, you start to get into that moment of like, did I miss the boat?
00:04:13.080 --> 00:05:12.199
God, where is mine? And then if you have a more competitive spirit, instead of just being discontent and sitting back and just sitting on your hands, you actually overwork yourself, and you strive to get something that's not meant for you. And so as I think about this idea of compete, the other word that. That actually competes with the word compete, funny enough, is, do we compete or do we compliment? And I think it's a shift that we have to make as believers, that we weren't meant, we weren't made, and we weren't put on this earth to compete one another. We were actually meant to compliment one another. And Philippians 2, 2 says this perfectly. It says, therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if you have any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being in one of spirit and one mind.
00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:49.728
So Philippians is telling us here it's not saying have your own way, do your own thing, do whatever makes you happy. It's actually saying be like minded, have the same love, be one in spirit and one of mind. The message translation says this really nicely. It says if you, if you've gotten anything out of all the message translation says this really nicely. It says this. If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care, then do me a favor. Agree with each other.
00:05:49.894 --> 00:05:57.403
Love each other, be deep spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front. Don't sweet talk your way to the top.
00:05:57.572 --> 00:06:01.319
Put yourself aside and help others get ahead.
00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:04.971
Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage.
00:06:05.115 --> 00:06:08.519
Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:31.685
This is just a perfect picture of man. When we don't feel content and we don't feel like we're getting what we should get or what others are getting, we don't have to compete. In fact, we should compliment all of us. Bring something different to the table. And so how can I compliment the people's lives around me? How can I add to their life? How can I be of one mind and of one spirit? Have the same love?
00:06:31.757 --> 00:07:32.990
I don't want to push my way to the top. I don't want to push my way to the front. I don't want to get my own advantage. I want to be a helping hand. And so let this challenge us today, that we don't have to compete for something we don't have. No, in fact we, we can compliment what everybody has and what we have and watch God fill in the blanks because he will and you will step into that season. We said it in the first episode this week. There's a time for everything. There is a time for you to step into that season. Whatever desire of your heart that you have, you're waiting on God will do it. It's up to you to believe it or not. But while we're waiting for that season and that time, let's lend a helping hand. Let's be of the same mind, the same love and the same spirit. Father, we just thank you for today. We thank you for this. Lord. It's hard being in in a world that is so competitive. In the corporate world, it's competitive. In the home, it's competitive. There's competitions about relationships online and on reality TV that are all about competing to find a guy.
00:07:33.149 --> 00:07:36.781
It's a very competitive world, Lord. But we are not cultivated called to compete.
00:07:36.846 --> 00:08:34.100
We are called to compliment. We are called to add value to the people's lives around us. We are called. We are called to add value to this world. God. We are not of this world. We are in this world. And you've put things in us, Father, to add value to this world. And so let us use every waking minute, every step we take, every word that we speak, every conversation that we have, everything we do, Lord, let us add value and complement those around us and not compete with those around us. And we thank you for that, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen and Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.
00:00:00.160 --> 00:00:21.399
You're listening to the My Morning Devotional podcast, episode 1214. Today's Devo is called Compete or Compliment. Hey there. We're the Alessi's a ministry family working together in our church in Miami, Florida. And if you're like us, when days get busy and to do lists get longer, it can be hard to find devotional time.
00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:32.509
That's why we've partnered with our friend Allison to produce a five minute daily dose of heaven. This is the My Morning Devotional podcast. Well, welcome back everybody. Happy Thursday.
00:00:32.969 --> 00:01:49.337
It's almost Friday, guys, and we're feeling good. I want to thank you guys for being along for this ride of this week's DeVos. I know there was a lot that I tried to pack in the first two days and then I kind of changed course yesterday and I'll continue to change course a little bit today. But I just so appreciate everybody and thank you for enduring the long episodes, the longer episodes. Hopefully what we can do is I can actually make a full video maybe in our next bonus episode that we do. And if you aren't subscribed to buy me a coffee to get our bonus episodes, this is your sign to subscribe because it's awesome. And so maybe in our next bonus episode I can share the whole detailed story and my sisters can share the story of the engagement that way. I'm not trying to squeeze it in to a five minute episode, but we're going to jump into today's devoid and it's a little bit different from the last couple of days. And it's this idea of do I compete or do I compliment? And you know, this, this idea came to me because I was speaking to our young girls at Youth the other night and I was sharing with them that in, in society and in specifically amongst women, but just overall there's a real spirit of competition that will naturally arise as you continue to grow and as you, as you continue to get older.
00:01:49.513 --> 00:02:43.780
And it kind of happens when you're in middle school first or maybe in high school when you start to see your friends get older or maybe your sisters get older or your siblings get older and people start to accomplish things that you haven't accomplished yet. So for example, your friend gets into a school or your friend, when you're younger, your friend makes it to the basketball team and you're like, man, maybe I should, maybe I should play basketball because your friend is playing basketball and that matures and then it goes into your friend made it to this college and then you feel like, man, I gotta get into that college or a better college. And then as you get in your 20s, your friends start dating, get engaged, and get married. And if you're not there, you feel this need to catch up, like you're missing out on something. And I realized that because I come from a family of three sisters and my brother. My brother's much older than us, so the three of us girls were very close in age. And this was something I always struggled with. And it was just the idea of.
00:02:44.080 --> 00:03:06.919
I felt like I always had to keep up being the youngest of three sisters of four siblings. My sisters and I. It's Stephanie, 18 months, Lauren, 18 months, me. So all of us are very close, yet still we have our age gaps, and. And we have our different seasons that those ages go through. And so as when we were younger, Stephanie would experience something or Lauren would experience something.
00:03:06.960 --> 00:04:12.340
And as the youngest, I always felt like I was missing out. Like, the fomo, the fear of missing out, like, I wasn't getting something that they were getting. And so because I was missing out, it caused this competition to rise up in me that I had to get mine. I had to go after the thing that I want, what they have, because if they have it, I have to have it. And it created just animosity. It would create just this discontentment in my heart that I didn't even realize I had until I got older. And I, I. I would try to accomplish things or I would want things, that the only reason I wanted them is because my sisters had them or my brother had them or my friends had them. But at the end of the day, it was never something that I really wanted. And I think this speaks to a lot of people, because as we get older, this tends to happen when your friends are getting married, your friends are graduating you, your friends are getting this job, your friends are having kids. All. Everybody seems to be moving on. And when you haven't accomplished those things, you start to get into that moment of like, did I miss the boat?
00:04:13.080 --> 00:05:12.199
God, where is mine? And then if you have a more competitive spirit, instead of just being discontent and sitting back and just sitting on your hands, you actually overwork yourself, and you strive to get something that's not meant for you. And so as I think about this idea of compete, the other word that. That actually competes with the word compete, funny enough, is, do we compete or do we compliment? And I think it's a shift that we have to make as believers, that we weren't meant, we weren't made, and we weren't put on this earth to compete one another. We were actually meant to compliment one another. And Philippians 2, 2 says this perfectly. It says, therefore, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if you have any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like minded, having the same love, being in one of spirit and one mind.
00:05:12.899 --> 00:05:49.728
So Philippians is telling us here it's not saying have your own way, do your own thing, do whatever makes you happy. It's actually saying be like minded, have the same love, be one in spirit and one of mind. The message translation says this really nicely. It says if you, if you've gotten anything out of all the message translation says this really nicely. It says this. If you've gotten anything at all out of following Christ, if his love has made any difference in your life, if being in a community of the Spirit means anything to you, if you have a heart, if you care, then do me a favor. Agree with each other.
00:05:49.894 --> 00:05:57.403
Love each other, be deep spirited friends. Don't push your way to the front. Don't sweet talk your way to the top.
00:05:57.572 --> 00:06:01.319
Put yourself aside and help others get ahead.
00:06:01.699 --> 00:06:04.971
Don't be obsessed with getting your own advantage.
00:06:05.115 --> 00:06:08.519
Forget yourselves long enough to lend a helping hand.
00:06:08.899 --> 00:06:31.685
This is just a perfect picture of man. When we don't feel content and we don't feel like we're getting what we should get or what others are getting, we don't have to compete. In fact, we should compliment all of us. Bring something different to the table. And so how can I compliment the people's lives around me? How can I add to their life? How can I be of one mind and of one spirit? Have the same love?
00:06:31.757 --> 00:07:32.990
I don't want to push my way to the top. I don't want to push my way to the front. I don't want to get my own advantage. I want to be a helping hand. And so let this challenge us today, that we don't have to compete for something we don't have. No, in fact we, we can compliment what everybody has and what we have and watch God fill in the blanks because he will and you will step into that season. We said it in the first episode this week. There's a time for everything. There is a time for you to step into that season. Whatever desire of your heart that you have, you're waiting on God will do it. It's up to you to believe it or not. But while we're waiting for that season and that time, let's lend a helping hand. Let's be of the same mind, the same love and the same spirit. Father, we just thank you for today. We thank you for this. Lord. It's hard being in in a world that is so competitive. In the corporate world, it's competitive. In the home, it's competitive. There's competitions about relationships online and on reality TV that are all about competing to find a guy.
00:07:33.149 --> 00:07:36.781
It's a very competitive world, Lord. But we are not cultivated called to compete.
00:07:36.846 --> 00:08:34.100
We are called to compliment. We are called to add value to the people's lives around us. We are called. We are called to add value to this world. God. We are not of this world. We are in this world. And you've put things in us, Father, to add value to this world. And so let us use every waking minute, every step we take, every word that we speak, every conversation that we have, everything we do, Lord, let us add value and complement those around us and not compete with those around us. And we thank you for that, Jesus. In your name we pray. Amen and Amen. So there you have it. Your 5 minute daily dose of heaven. Thank you so much for tuning in today. We pray these devotionals empower you to take on your day. If you found value in this devotional, share it with a friend, leave a comment or review for us on the app you're using right now. Until tomorrow, we pray that your latte is strong, but your love for Jesus is stronger.