Dearly Beloved,
If you should take a look on Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook; listen to Christian talks, sermons, and podcasts, you’ll see a thousand posts memorializing this proverb – “Comparison is the thief of joy”.
Let’s talk about this for a bit. What if comparing in and of itself isn’t so bad? If you want, comparison can be either good or bad. Comparison gets bad when we start to become envious, filled with pride; when we start to covet and we sink in self-pity. Comparison gets bad when you start comparing your real life with the fake life of someone you’ve never ever met on the internet. I get why Teddy Roosevelt would say that “comparison is a thief of joy. When you start to measure yourself up against others, and you start to notice the discrepancies, you start to become unhappy with yourself and your own life. Comparison is a fundamental part of being human because it’s how we acquaint ourselves with reality. What we need to do is train ourselves how to compare properly, not cut ourselves off from the necessity of comparison.
What if, rather than pretending not to notice that your friend is excelling in her business (while you’re scraping by), you honoured her by giving thanks to God for her obedience, and her hard work? What if you started observing her more closely, making more comparisons rather than less, so that you could actually learn from her? What if, rather than comparing your skillset or your intelligence and becoming unhappy that you and your life don’t match up, you actually sit at the feet of these people that are excelling and learn from them? Or better yet, what if, rather than comparing your life to the life of that other woman, you began to thank God for what you already have?
Dearly beloved, leading your comparisons in the right direction — away from envy, pride, covetousness, and self-pity, and toward Christlike imitation — will turn you into a better person. You see, God placed some specific talents, characteristics, gifts and anointing to accomplish a certain purpose, and that is what He wants and needs you to do. God does not want you to be distracted by someone else’s life and accomplishments. God wants you to keep your eyes fixed on Him. And if you should ever be caught comparing, may it never lead you to become envious of the lives of others. Your life that God has carved out is unique to you.
One of the things that hit home for me a few months ago is that, when false comparison takes over, we begin to complain about the many things we lack, and ingratitude steps in. Our eyes are now fixed on the wrong thing, and we begin to actually dishonour God. We say to His face that what he has given to us is not good and not enough!
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Angelisa is a Jesus enthusiast, Worship leader & Christian youth leader. She considers herself to be the old-fashioned type of girl who loves spicy food and belly bottom laughter. Among her passions are singing, working with children, and encouraging others.