Me first

I wrote unto the church: but Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us not. Wherefore, if I come, I will remember his deeds which he doeth, prating against us with malicious words: and not content therewith, neither doth he himself receive the brethren, and forbiddeth them that would, and casteth them out of the church. – 3 John 1.9-10

Sometimes we come across people in the word of God and people in our lives today where it is very hard to find anything good to say about them. Diotrephes is one of those people. Look at what John says about him.

He loves the preeminence
He does not receive John and other preachers
He attacks the preachers with malicious words
He does not receive the other brethren
He opposes those who do try to receive the brethren
He throws those who try to help out of the church

Sadly I think we can all think of people like this that we have met. There may even be times we can remember in our own lives when we had a diotrephian spirit. It all starts with a simple little statement at the beginning – he loved to have the preeminence.

And that is where we need to examine our hearts. Are we like Diotrephes in that we like to be number one? Does everything need to be about us? Do we live for others? Or do we live for us?

Loving the pre-eminence means it is about me. It is the opposite of humility. It is the source of all the other things that Diotrephes did wrong.

It isn’t about me. The sooner I can grasp that truth the better it will be for me and for everyone around me.