What does He must increase and I must decrease mean?

What does He must increase and I must decrease mean for a website?

Does He must increase and I must decrease impact a revamped website or mpact your life? Does More Jesus, Less me really matter? Yes to all three questions. An explanation follows but first, a little history…

Eight years ago, a restless longing in my spirit directed me to 1 Chronicles 4:10. You probably know this verse as the Prayer of Jabez in which he asked God to expand his territory. In an unexpected turnaround, God said to me, “I’m going to expand your reach.” It wasn’t clear at the time, but an expansion of “my” reach included more of Jesus and less of me.

The idea of “expanded reach” didn’t generate great enthusiasm. “What does this mean?” “Is further expansion possible?” The questions were met with one still, small Whisper: “start a blog.”  Google answered the “What is a blog?” and “How to make a blog” questions and, in less than an hour, the Faith Lived Out Loud blog was born.

Nearly five years, more than 2,000 blog posts, and over 700,000 views later, the blog moved to this website. Professional writers need a “real” website to promote their blog, or so the experts said. Soon, we had a lovely, author-named website. It was all about Leanna. Photos of Leanna. What Leanna was doing.

Too much Leanna.

Needless to say, God didn’t bless the new website. I’m ashamed to admit it took nearly three years to ask why not. The answer was simple and found in John 3:30.  “Too much Leanna. Not enough Jesus.” What did He must increase and I must decrease mean in terms of the website? Massive change. We needed more Jesus, less Leanna. Our team worked diligently the last few months to correct this problem

He must increase and I must decrease defines our focus.

The basic problem was the focus. He must increase and I must decrease means the focus can’t be on any single person. Instead, it must be directed toward Him.

There was also another problem. Experts say you need to write for your audience but what if you don’t know your audience?  After many struggles, one thing was obvious. You were there all the time. Thank you. Another Important truth also became obvious: We provide resources for the body of Christ to help them live the life of a real disciple of Jesus. Sometimes those resources are stories about everyday events in which we can see Jesus and learn from Him and sometimes they’re Bible studies, prayer guides, or how-to instructions.

If you want to dig deep with Jesus, we can help. If your idea of the Christian life is to attend a church service now and then but make no changes in your life, you may not find what you’re looking for here…unless you’re ready for a challenge and change. Are you ready to ask what does He must increase and I must decrease” for yourself? We’d love to help.

So…this newly designed website is a (still flawed) attempt at obedience. You won’t “see” as much Leanna but we pray you will see lots more of Jesus here.

How to use the new “More Jesus, Less Me” website:

1. The Faith Lived Out Loud section

This is the blog location. This is the only “new” blog post for today, but you can expect more to come. Will there be stories again? Yes. Definitely. Storytelling is one of my core values so there are definitely more stories in the future.

2. The Resources Section

This section provides an organized structure for lots of resources in the areas of community outreach, discipleship, and prayer. The Women’s Ministry resources take you to our Whisper Gathering website for now. We’ve included quite a few resources, including some to help you embrace what it means for Him to increase and you to decrease, but there are more to come in the next few weeks. If you don’t see something you need or the answer to a question, use the Contact form to let us know. It may take a bit to get it done, but we want to provide the resources you need.

3. The Freebie page.

We offer a free printable resource every month and it’s usually theme-based. Since we celebrated Labor Day this month, our free resource is how to pray for co-workers. We’ll also offer new one-day-only freebies this week, so be sure to check back regularly. Subscribers to the devotional newsletter (Faith Lived Out Loud newsletter) will receive all the freebies in their email so be sure to subscribe.

4. The About section

This includes introductory information about many of the areas of outreach in our ministry. We’d love it if you’d decide to get involved. There’s plenty of work to be done.

5. The Get Involved tab

This tab has multiple sections so you’ll need to use the drop-down menu to navigate. You’ll find the Contact form and all the newsletters from our Global Outreach ministry. If you’ve prayed, participated, or given in any way, these newsletters tell the story of your work so take a few minutes to read about what God’s doing through you. You can also sign up for the devotional newsletter too. (Please note: This is not the sign-up for the “paper” ministry newsletter but you can sign up to receive the snail-mail ministry newsletter version via the contact form.)

What does He must increase and I must decrease mean for your life?

The life of a Christian, a disciple of Jesus Christ, must be focused on Him and not on ourselves. The more we know Him and experience His love, mercy, and grace, the more we want to please Him by ridding ourselves of sinful actions, thoughts, or attitudes. We want to rid ourselves of the “deeds of the flesh” listed in Galatians 5:16-21 and allow Him to fill us with the fruit of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22-23.

How does more Jesus, less me happen in the life of a disciple of Christ?

1. Make a choice to live His way instead of our own.
2. Learn His ways through Bible study.
3. Let go of our old ways through repentance.
4. Gain His strength through prayer and discipline.
5. Start fresh every day.

We have resources to help with every step along the way. The steps above are not “five easy steps,” they’re five essential steps to follow every day for the rest of our lives. We’re here to help you do just that.

One more thing…Did you know we have video Bible studies available? Scroll down to the bottom of the discipleship page to find the links. These videos are live, raw footage from a women’s small group. We’re sharing them so you can learn from these amazing ladies. This is a closed group but if you’re interested in a similar small group, use the contact form to let me know. We’ll be glad to help you get started.

Hey, thanks for hanging out with us for a while. We hope this will be a place you want to visit often because of the good stories we share and the resources we offer.

We haven’t told you lately how much we appreciate your patience with us in this long delay of writing and your faithfulness in reading, but oh, how grateful we are. Thanks for being along for the ride. We think we have lots of fun ahead.

May the love, grace, and peace of Jesus abound,

Leanna for the Faith Lived Out Loud team

Featured Photo by Corinne Kutz on Unsplash