Bible Passage: “If anyone wants to be first, he must be last and servant of all.” (Mark 9:35)
Scripture Reading: Mark 9:33-37
Have you ever had a debate over who the GOAT is in sports?
Michael Jordan or Lebron James? (hint: it’s not Lebron.)
Wayne Gretzky or Sidney Crosby?
Whatever your preference, sports fans have always loved a good debate on who the greatest of all time is.
What are the markers that make someone the greatest? When we think about athletes, it usually revolves around personal accomplishments and team championships. Where do their stats stand in the sport’s history, and how many rings did they win?
Now, imagine the disciples of Jesus having a debate over who the GOAT is amongst themselves.
Somehow, I imagine Peter telling everyone else to try and beat the time he walked on water. Maybe they kept count of how many miracles Jesus allowed them to be part of. Whatever that debate looked like, Mark tells us it happened.
Like a wise person who has seen it all, Jesus sits down and calls His disciples to come to Him. Then, He shakes the foundations of what it means to be the GOAT in the Kingdom of God:
If your ambition is to be the greatest, you will fail. The only way to be great is to die to your ambitions.
If humility begins with a high view of God, it is lived out by a high ambition to serve the well-being of other people.
Pride says what matters most is a man’s success. Humility says what matters most is to be “last and servant of all.”
It’s not merely good enough to serve others; it is to serve others in a way that you are last.
Unfortunately, most of us have a blind spot. I have never met a man who said he doesn’t care about anyone else. We all think we serve at least some people.
Here is how C.S. Lewis responded to that:
“If you think you are not conceited, it means you are very conceited indeed.”
We don’t naturally have the right ambitions. There is often some part of us looking for our own win. The upside-down statistic in the Kingdom of Jesus is that when you come last, you become great.
But how do we become this type of man?
In the rest of these devotionals, we will look at three practices to help a man kill pride and build humility.
Prayer: Father, help me pursue true greatness in Your Kingdom by becoming a servant to all. Amen.
Reflection: What does it practically look like to be a “last and a servant of all,” as Jesus says in Mark 9:35?
Copyright © 2025 Impactus. All rights reserved.
About
