I’ve been having a hard time today. Seems like everywhere I turn, someone is comparing me to someone else.
“My job is harder because I have more students than you do.”
“I deserve more because I take care of my kids and you don’t have any.”
“You’re not as pretty as her.”
“You’re not as skinny as you should be.”
When did life become a comparison game? When did we start to try to one-up our friends so that we would get more glory, more pity, more pride? And why does this bother me so much?
Why does it matter whose job is harder – when we’ve been called to different things by God, given different talents by Him?
Why does it matter that I don’t have kids but you do – does it somehow make you a better wife, a better person, or a better mom?
Why does it matter who’s prettier – and how do we even measure that, anyway?
Why is there a way that I should look, a body type I should have?
What if, instead of trying to one-up everyone around us, we just listened instead? We cried with our friends, laughed with them, and lifted them up in prayer? What if, instead of trying to be better than them, we turned ourselves to God, who knows we’re only made worthy by His sacrifice? And by the way, not just our friends – but our enemies too.
How different would our world look if we didn’t try to one-up each other, and instead forgave each other and prayed for each other? I think it’d look a lot different.
We might go for a walk with each other instead of pointing out that we need to lose a few pounds. We might give each other words of encouragement instead of harsh, unhelpful ones. We might build each other up instead of tear each other down.
We were all given different gifts by our Heavenly Father. He created us each for something different. Let’s embrace that calling and encourage those around us whose callings may be different than ours. Let’s lift each other up instead of comparing ourselves to others, cheapening our own worth.
You are worth so much – enough that God died for you, and calls you His own. Your worth is not measured by what people say or who they compare you to. Your worth is found in the One who died to know you. Let others know Him too.