Do you know that many of the problems we have as humans are not real?
I’ll explain how in a minute.
Just yesterday, my wife told me one of her ‘Queens College’ stories.
Today is children’s day, right?
She told me how unhappy they used to be as borders on Children’s Day. Their anger was not because they would not be fed. In fact, if anything, they should be excited at the special jollof rice meal they will be served at lunch.
Instead, they’d rather be angry because the day students will have breakfast in their respective homes, come to school and share in the borders lunch for that day, go back home to eat more, and still have dinner. Meanwhile, the celebratory lunch the borders will have at about 1 pm that day will be their lunch and the next meal will be at dinner.
My question is – did the day students do anything wrong by eating food that the school made provision for? No!
Would the borders be adequately fed? Yes!
The only reason the borders are angry is because they are comparing their reality with that of the Day students.
- If they never compared themselves with the day students, there would be no problem
- If the school had no day students at all, there would be no basis for comparisons and all the borders would be cool.
Why this story?
For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. 2 Corinthians 10:12
Many of the problems we have will not exist if we don’t compare ourselves with ourselves. For instance:
- Jealousy
- Low-self Esteem
- High-self Esteem
- Feeling of rejection
- Feeling Intimidated
- Lack of Confidence
- Arrogance
All stem from comparisons.
You see, Eve couldn’t have felt ‘not beautiful’ because there was no other woman to check herself with to determine if she was more beautiful or less beautiful. The only consciousness she had was the fact that she was created by God.
Eventually, the Devil successfully deceives her by making her compare herself with God. He told her-
you will be LIKE God. (Gen. 3:5)
The adverb ‘Like; is always used when comparing 2 things. Eve made a mistake. She wasn’t supposed to be compared with God because she was God. She was made in His image and His likeness.
When we feel lesser than other people, it’s because we compare ourselves with them. What if we don’t compare ourselves with them?
You may ask, so how do we set a standard of idealness?
The answer is simple:
…until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ. (Eph. 4:13 NLT)
We should only MEASURE ourselves with Jesus Christ who is the Author and the Finisher of our faith. (Heb. 12:2)
If there is anywhere we should stare at, to constantly compare ourselves including:
- Our status
- Our Words
- Our Actions
- Our Thoughts
It is the mirror of the Word of God.
But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord. (2 Cor. 3:18)
As Christians, our standard is not
- A celebrity crush
- Influencers
or so-called ‘Stars’. The world is trying to drive a narrative that anyone who is popular, and visible on TV screens and Social Media platforms is the standard of what a human being should be like.
That’s a big lie. Jesus is our standard, His Word is our Measure.
So do I mean, there is no place for comparison at all?
Not exactly.
Comparisons can lead to growth.
The focus is on what or who we are comparing. If we are comparing ourselves to humans, then it should be with Jesus, not even a Pastor. We can compare objects to objects to see which is better but everything we do is in the confines of the Word of God.
The safe spot is to ‘walk in the Spirit’ any comparison that leads to fleshly emotions is not of God, I mean even when comparing objects.
I pray the Holy Spirit guides these words in your hearts.
Do you have any questions about this? I’ll be happy to respond to you.
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