Think Again!

Chapter 15: Producing God’s ROI: Adapt to Win • 135

to be important is not evil. On the contrary, it is a quality embedded in us by God himself. We are wired to be creative, to do things that matter , to be noticed and appreciated. We are built to be indispensable. But the devil takes advantage of this desire, hoping we will put all our effort into securing the approval of others. In a fallen world, the God-given drive to be significant can be twisted into an obsession to win approval or become famous. Wondering if we really count, we can become terrified of being worthless. So we frantically pour ourselves into activities to address our fear of insignificance. Children will do anything to avoid obscurity, even act self- destructively. All through life, we desperately act in ways that we can be noticed, respected, and honored. We are warned by James 4.2-3: “You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” We have wrong motives because we want to be noticed, no matter the cost. Do you find yourself inserting your way into every conversation? Do you find yourself wounded when your contribution isn’t recognized? Can a discussion start and end without you becoming the topic? Or do you find yourself thinking thoughts like: • If I win that award, they will finally respect me. • If I can get my article published, then I’ll be somebody. • If I earn that promotion, I will have arrived.

You also need to be on guard against envy. If you become envious of others’ success, you can become like Cain who