My friend woke me early hours this morn, crying on the phone. Said he's worried because he's really competitive and I'm not so does that make me better than him?
No, I said. Just different
Can you explain it to me please, he said. Because I'm completely confused and can't sleep
Alright, I said. Don't worry. Most folks are naturally competitive. It's just the way things are. It's a natural animal instinct. In the wild it helps folks get food and survive. But we're not in the wild anymore. So being competitive can be a bad thing. It can cause tension, spite, theft, murder and even war. Five bad things we don't really want in society
The good news is folks have already invented two wonderful ways of putting their competitive streaks to good uses - so that their competitive urges are focused on the two good things instead of the five bad things. The two good things folks have invented are - sports and games. I like one player or cooperative gaming. I'm not one for competitive gaming, but I know it's popular. All competitive games and sports are ways of applying your competitive drive in a friendly way. Friendly competition. But if you start competing for everything, like a place in the queue, or the fastest car or biggest house, you go from com-PETTY-tive to just plain petty. Competing over nothing of any import. When you start competing just for the hell of it, when there is no need, it turns bad and is a sin. But don't worry. Every human being is a sinner. We all just sin in different ways
My main sin is gluttony. But being petty - competing over silly stuff - is also a sin. So just as I have to watch my diet, you have to watch your pettiness, alright?
Alright, he sniffed, I guess. What if I don't though?
You'll be a petty person for the rest of your life. Is that what you want?
No, he said. How can I stop?
It's like eating, I said. Eating too much makes you overweight. Competing too much makes you petty. Both are bad character traits. Both are sins
Neither sin is allowed in heaven. So if you wanna go to heaven you have to give them up. But if you wanna get reborn as a selfish animal that only cares about eating or winning, just keep on feasting or being petty
What about other sins, like lust and that. Can I do them?
No sins are allowed in heaven. So you want to give them all up really. Lust is one a lot of people suffer from
How do I give it up, he asked
Same way as being petty
Really?
Yep. Even me and my mates used to lust when we were teens
You did?
We did. Like most folks we used to read topshelf mags. But I found one was never enough. Not one picture. Not one woman. Not one mag. We kept on reading a new mag every week
Eventually I realised no number of mags or women could ever satisfy. So I gave them up. I later realised the only real reason to go with a woman at all is to raise a fam. Any other reason is just lust. No man will ever be sexually satisfied with just one woman, and no woman with just one man. Because lust is a sin and cannot be satisfied
It's just the same with eating. If you're truly hungry, the smallest, plainest scrap of food will feel like the finest feast. But if you eat too much, even a feast fit for a king will feel unsatisfying
That's what women are like as well. If they make love too often they want more and more until you can't satisfy them. But if they only do it once in a while, even the tiniest bit of love will satisfy. So if your missus is giving you an ear ache in the bedroom, just tell her lovemaking will now only occur on special occassions so she appreciates it instead of being a love glutton
Monks and nuns don't love at all and they're always happy. So your wife should be grateful for love once a month. Give it to her every day and she'll soon get bored
As parents it's your duty to stay with each other for the good of your kids. So you don't wanna be getting bored with each other. Keep the romance alive by loving less. Sometimes less is more
It's the same with all sins. Less is more really is the key. So if you wanna be a better man, quit lust, quit overeating and quit being petty. Then you'll be like an angel, and can focus more on God and heaven
Then instead of wondering how you can do something petty to get something new, you'll find yourself praying to God, thanking him for what you've already got, having faith that if you follow him, he will give you all you need, on earth and in heaven, for he is lord of both worlds
"Then, because you live like Jesus lived, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand. And this peace will control the way you think and feel, and you will be able to sleep at night, instead of calling me on the phone in tears." (Philippians 4:7)
Here endeth today's lesson. And no lesson would be complete without a song
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