I'm Not as Good as ___________!

I know you did it... We all do. As soon as you read that you filled in that blank with someone that you constantly place yourself against as a standard to measure your accomplishments or lack thereof. It is part of our human nature to compare ourselves to one another. We start at a young age debating whose dad is bigger or who is taller, faster, stronger and we continue doing so well into adulthood. And sometimes we come out "on top"! We prove ourselves to be the stronger one or the smarter one or the more successful one. And the Bible warns us about that Here and Here.

But I think that often times the greater struggle we have as we grow older (not necessarily wiser) is that comparison frustrates us because we see those who have "done it better" or "gotten there faster". I can't count how many times I have personally struggled with this! For those who don't know my wife and I were told when we began trying to start a family that we would very likely never have any kids. While this broke our hearts - the greater frustration came as we interacted with those who blinked at each other, got pregnant and "...weren't really trying". Our comparison drove us nuts! And I won't even begin to talk about the frustration that we have experienced launching a church - someone is always growing faster, baptizing more, adding more staff than we are.

Paul writes in Galatians 6:4 - Do your own work well, and then you will have something to be proud of. But don’t compare yourself with others.

See the solution is simple stop trying to determine or measure success and pace and productivity by what everyone else is doing!! Simply ask yourself this - "Am I doing what HE has asked of me?" Don't worry about how fast they get "there" or how much better they do "it". Too many times we become frustrated in life because someone else has "done it better" or "got there faster" and as a result we simply throw our hands up in defeat. I want to encourage you today - Don't fail to fulfill your purpose on the basis of comparison! Do what you do and do it well and BE PROUD!!

~Nate