He must increase, but I must decrease John 3:30 Although much of the content of this book is the culmination of several years of casual and relatively disconnected writing and preaching, the manuscript really began to take meaningful shape after a sermon on John 1:19–34, which I titled, “(Un)Worthy of Jesus.” That sermon, the content…

Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. Matthew 8:8 If I could tell you how to gain the approval of Jesus, would you be interested in hearing about it? Maybe all sort of flags are going up in your mind, warning you that we cannot earn the approval of Jesus.…

Among you stands one you do not know, even he who comes after me, the strap of whose sandal I am not worthy to untie. John 1:26–27 The early Christians struggled with heresies that caused confusion about what (and what not) to believe about Jesus. John wanted to make sure that Christians were seeing Jesus…

Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted. Luke 18:14 Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners,…

Whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:38 I chose the title (un)Worthy because it embodies two ideas that are important to Jesus. On one hand, we are expected to live a life worthy of the gospel, and on the other, we are expected to consider ourselves…

By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. John 15:8 We have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of…

I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Philippians 3:8 When we see the value of Jesus, we will live in a way that demonstrates it. We are willing to give up everything because it is all worth nothing compared to having Jesus. This mindset requires a…

Scripture tells us to both live a life worthy of the gospel and consider ourselves unworthy of Jesus. These two commands do not contradict each other. While we seek to know Jesus, and start to see just how great a treasure He is, we will embody the same perspective as John when he said he…