The words of John the Baptist, “He must increase; I must decrease,” provide excellent guidance in the spiritual life but they can also be misinterpreted. To understand it properly think of a saying of St. Paul: “It is now no longer I that live but Christ lives in me” (Gal. 2:20). What the Apostle, what the Baptist understand is that our true identity is found once we let Jesus share with us his nature as the beloved of God. Our striving to overcome our default position of feeling inadequate or unfulfilled gives way to accepting ourselves as children of God because of our familial relationship with Jesus. With Jesus in our life our doubts and fears are replaced by divine compassion, forgiveness and unconditional love.
