Galatians 6:4-5

Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.

This is one of the great traps of our generation – comparing ourselves to others.  To compare ourselves with others creates a paralysis of our souls.  We look at other people in our occupation and think to ourselves, “Why can’t I be like them?”.  It starts off innocently enough but then it spirals into a constant questioning of our decisions that keep us from going on the the unique journey that God has prepared for us.  In the apostle Paul’s book on the church he states,

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

The “good works” that each of us has in front of us are unique.  When we use language such as “destiny” and “purpose”, we must come to grips that those terms imply that we are going on a journey that no one else can travel.  To proceed on the path in front of us is essential for God’s purposes for all of us.

I believe in community.  And I believe that the Christian faith is a corporate faith, not one that is individualistic.  But when we see the pattern of Scripture, we see that we are not to be either independent (doing things with no regard to anyone else) or co-dependent (doing things that are based upon everyone else).  The big idea of Scripture is to be interdependent (unique in our personality and journey, yet expressing that in a community).

When we compare ourselves to others, we are validating or invalidating our journey based upon someone else’s journey.  And that creates a pandoras box of insecurities, bad decisions, and anxiety.

God’s desire is for us to know Him.  To walk with God is to go places that we never expected to go in ways we never expected.  If we compare ourselves to others we invite only condemnation and pain into our souls.  Here’s how we can break the cycle:

1. REPENT – Yes, repent.  Don’t see this as just an insecurity, but as sin.  See it as denying God’s workmanship in our lives.  We are trying to be someone else, and in doing so we are denying those around us the most important thing that we bring to the table – us!  Pray for God’s forgiveness for exalting someone else’s calling over our own.

2. CAPTURE – Once we’ve repented, realize that we’ve probably developed patterns of comparing.  Look for anxiety and confusion over life decisions.  Many times we know what we’re supposed to do, but comparison has stifled our ability to follow the leading of the Master.  We need to capture those anxious or confused thoughts and bring them to the Lord.

3. RENEW – Dive into the Scripture and let God’s words renew our thinking.  Have the courage to have preferences, to share insights, and allow insights to be shared that can really help us in the crossroads of life.

Life is too short to be enslaved by the success or failures of others.  What may be working for someone else will not work for us.  What may not work for someone else may be the very thing that we need to do.  God has a path for each of us and that path is GOOD!  Don’t allow comparison to quench the Holy Spirit and what He is doing in each of our lives.