John’s reply may apply to 3 different groups of people:

1. John himself.  He has only received what God has given him. He cannot be anything more than the one to go before the Messiah so don’t try to make him into something he is not called to be.
2. Jesus.  Jesus is not stealing disciples; any success He is receiving is directly from God.
3. Us.  Salvation, our ministry, and our gifts all come from God.  We should not try to be something He has not called or gifted us to be, and should never be jealous of someone who has been gifted or called to be something we would like for ourselves. (1 Cor 4:7)

1 Cor 4:7  For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?

The coming of Jesus into a greater ministry than that of John was exactly what John expected and hoped for. In our ministry, it is God that is special — not we ourselves (1 Cor 3:5). We receive our abilities, callings, and ministries from God Who is the Giver of all good gifts (James 1:17). We should therefore never look down upon someone who has a different or less visible gift or calling than ours. On the other hand, though it is proper to recognize the office (2 Kings 2:23-24), we should never elevate the person who is in that position. In other words, don’t look up to someone just because they are used seemingly more mightily by God than you are. It is God Who is doing the work, not that person. Remember that it was the religious leaders of the day that Jesus was most upset with.

1 Cor 3:5  What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task.

James 1:17  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

2 Kings 2:23-24  From there Elisha went up to Bethel. As he was walking along the road, some youths came out of the town and jeered at him. “Go on up, you baldhead!” they said. “Go on up, you baldhead!” He turned round, looked at them and called down a curse on them in the name of the LORD. Then two bears came out of the woods and mauled forty-two of the youths.

Someone once said that all service ranks the same with God. Anything that God calls us to do is of necessity always going to be great in His eyes and it should be in ours, too.