I recently watched a three part series by Andy Stanley called The Comparison Trap. It may have been the most life changing sermon series I have ever watched. I'm sure that it resonated with me so strongly because comparison tends to devour me. It robs me of my happiness and sucks the life from me.
"A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones." Proverbs 14:30
The premise of the series is that "there is no win in comparison." Those six words challenged me. They challenged me in ways, and on levels that I could not even imagine. I've always fueled myself comparatively. Whether I was competing with myself, or with someone else, I always wanted to be better. Faster. Smarter. Thinner. Stronger. Funnier. Prettier. More successful. The more I believed I was these things, the better I felt. But when I wasn't, emotional and psychological chaos set in.
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Stanley hits on some topics that a lot of people wouldn't. He enters "unsafe" territory (one of the main reasons I enjoy his series so much). Early on in the series he poses a number of questions, one of them being "who would you secretly enjoy seeing fail?" Wow. Now, if you're a normal human being, one or many names just probably popped into your head. That doesn't make you evil, but it certainly shows the evil that has the potential to live, grow and strangle all of us if we let it.
The truth of the comparison game is that God compares us to no one. He's created each of us to run our own race, to fight different battles and have different triumphs. Instead of expending energy comparing our lives to others, we should be focusing on living God's will. We need to take our cues from God, not from the world.
Stanley leaves us with these words; arguably as challenging as the first, "celebrate what God gives others and leverage what God has given you." Imagine the changes we would see if we celebrated for others, if we expressed positivity rather than envy and jealousy; emotions that rot us to the core.
My prayer today is that we would all be freed from "the comparison trap." Regardless of faith, or relationship with God, we could all benefit from being freed of this heavy, life-sucking cycle. I pray that we would learn to celebrate others triumphs and talents, and leverage our own for God's kingdom. Amen.
Do you find that comparison is an issue in your life? Marriage? Relationship's? Leave me a comment below!
Have a blessed and safe weekend friends! Enjoy your extra day off!
xo, A
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