When Jesus ate the last supper with His disciples, He indicated that “the hand of the one betraying Me is with Mine on the table” (Luke 22:21). Those who are familiar with the gospel record will immediately recognize that Jesus was referring to Judas.
However, at the time, the disciples did not know who would betray Him. So “they began to discuss among themselves which one of them it might be who was going to do this thing” (Luke 22:23). Only one betrayed Jesus. The rest of the disciples would be defending themselves or satisfying their conscience that they would never do such a thing.
Interestingly, this led to another discussion: “And there arose a dispute among them as to which one of them was regarded to be greatest” (Luke 22:24). Jesus explained that greatness in His kingdom comes through service (Luke 22:25-27). However, in convincing themselves that they were faithful enough to never betray the Lord, they began to think how they might be “better” than the others.
We are to be faithful to the Lord in all that we do. However, we are not to allow this to make us arrogant. We are not to regard ourselves as being “better” than others for our service to the Lord. Instead, we are to remain humble and simply obey Him.
So do not let faithfulness lead to arrogance. Just as the Lord humbled Himself and sacrificed His life on the cross for us, we are to be humble and make sacrifices for Him and for others. Rather than comparing ourselves with others, let us simply focus on doing the Lord’s will in His kingdom.