7 Reasons To Not Compare Ourselves
By: Carol McClain @carol_mcclain
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| My latest glass: My best–but can’t compare to God’s glory |
My sister Marianne recently resumed her stained glass construction. This doesn’t bode well for my ego because everything she does is exquisite. You can guarantee her solder seams will be as straight as a computer generated line. Her cuttings and piecing, her foiling and patinas will rival Tiffany’s. Color selection and design will create a work of art.
And there’ll be no stupid white flux lines like the ones plaguing my finished pieces.
And that has thrown me into the comparison game once more. My work does not match hers–and only non-stop practice on my part and quitting stained glass on her end will every bring my talent up to her level.
This whirligig of comparisons destroys my joy and knocks me off the path God has chosen for me to walk. No good thing can come from it. It’s stupid–see 2 Cor. 10:12).
Do you do this?
Comparisons destroy our joy. They cause us to forget that God loves us just as we are. It’s not our works that bring us salvation or divine love or a coveted spot in heaven.
Instead, we must remember, God has given us enough to be pleasing to Him. Isn’t that ample?
Reasons we shouldn’t compare ourselves with others:
- Egotists do this. Do you want to be in the same category as a narcissist? (Phil. 2:3)
- Whose approval are you seeking–God’s or man’s? (Gal. 1:10)
- Is your calling the same as everyone else’s? (Rom. 12:2)
- Our talents are given by God. Do we rebuke Him because we’re not on the same level as Mozart or Einstein? (1 Cor. 4:7)
- Our jealousy causes divisions. (Jude 1:19)
- What are our motives? Do we wish to lord it over others as the greatest? Jesus didn’t, and He is God. (Luke 22: 24-27)
- Our arrogance will treat others with contempt. (Luke 18: 9-14)
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Author Carol McClain
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