𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐆𝐨𝐝 ’ 𝐬 𝐆𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐁𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 Jeroboam’s life teaches us a sobering spiritual lesson: a God-given assignment can become a source of sin when we stop treating it as a stewardship and begin treating it as something we must protect for ourselves. Jeroboam did not receive the ten tribes merely through his own ambition. God had already determined that the kingdom would be divided because of Solomon’s unfaithfulness. Through the prophet Ahijah, God said to Jeroboam, “I will tear the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give ten tribes to you” (1 Kings 11:31). God was sovereignly giving Jeroboam an opportunity to govern ten tribes of Israel. Therefore, the problem was not that Jeroboam received the kingdom; the problem was what he did with what God had entrusted to him. God gave him the responsibility to lead, but Jeroboam became preoccupied with keeping what he had received. He feared that if the people continued going to Jeru...