We have often read this verse and misappropriate it to our lives, thinking we must become less and less and Christ become more and more. We pray that God will empty us of ourselves so that we can be filled with more of Him. “More of You, God and less of me,” becomes our prayer.
When we apply Scriptures to our lives, we must first understand what its original meaning and intent was so that we can apply it correctly. When we look at the context of this verse, we read that John the Baptist is saying this to his disciples when they tell him about Jesus baptizing people and that “everybody is going to him instead of coming to us.” John’s answer is that Christ’s influence and sphere of influence will become greater…and his own will become less.
“You yourselves know how plainly I told you, ‘I am not the Messiah. I am only here to prepare the way for Him.’ It is the bridegroom who marries the bride, and the best man is simply glad to stand with him and hear his vows. Therefore, I am filled with joy at His success. He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” John 3:29-30, NLT
It was good and right…and necessary… that more and more people turn to Christ instead of John…it was John’s purpose from the beginning. And now his purpose was coming to an end. The Messiah was now here and John could fade into the background. But you and I are not to fade into the background…our purpose has not come to end. And our purpose requires that we are fully ourselves…and fully Him. We each have unique gifts that the Kingdom needs. We each have unique personalities that contribute to a fuller expression of Him and His Kingdom. We each have a uniqueness that cannot…must not..be lost nor relinquished. For my purpose to be fulfilled, I must be all of Him AND all of me! You must be all of Him AND all of you!
It’s likely that our prayer for an emptying of ourselves and a filling of God is because we see things in ourselves that we don’t like…remnants of the old man. Temptations abound. We fall. We get angry…jealous…petty…spiteful. We find it difficult to forgive sometimes. We lash out at others. But those things are not the real me… or the real you. God knows in a way that we still don’t, that our true selves are a reflection of Him….all else is a distortion. Furthermore, those things do not reside in us…do not need to be emptied from us. Asking God to empty us of ourselves won’t rid us of those things; placing ourselves under the flow of grace will.
I have two friends who, in my opinion, are a lot like Jesus. But, they are very, very different. And the kingdom needs both of them…just the way they are. And the kingdom needs you and me…just the way we are. God doesn’t want you to empty yourself of you so you can be filled with more of Him. He wants you to stay you and be filled with Him. When we are filled with Him and fully aware of who we truly are, we are most powerful….most effective….most satisfied…most alive. Our prayer should become, “More of you, God…and more of me!”