Comparison

COMPARISON

THINGS WE COMPARE

Possessions

Appearance

Performance

Circumstances

WHY DOES GOD WANT US TO PRUNE COMPARISON?

Comparison kills contentment. 

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.    2 Corinthians 10:12 (NIV)

Comparison can cause pride. 

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: “God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.”    Luke 18:11 - 12 (NIV)

“We say that people are proud of being rich, or clever, or good-looking, but they are not. They are proud of being richer, or cleverer, or better-looking than others. If everyone else became equally rich, or clever, or good-looking, there would be nothing to be proud about.”  – C.S. Lewis

Comparison can cause us to be resentful. 

When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”  Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.   1 Samuel 18:6 - 9 (NIV)

When we compare our lives to others, we resent God’s blessings in their lives while ignoring His blessings in our own.

SO, WHAT DO WE DO?

Know What You Have.

I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.   Philippians 4:11 - 13 (NIV)

Know Who You Are.  

For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.    Ephesians 2:10 (NIV)

“I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God's thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest, and most precious thing in all thinking.”   – George MacDonald