I don’t know if you are anything like me but I struggle with comparing myself to others. Its something that happens in the back of my mind constantly. I find myself gauging my own performance or self worth by looking around. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing with benchmarking yourself to seeing how you are doing and what you could be doing better but comparisons can be very dangerous to our psyche and our walk with God. The reason they can be dangerous is because we can become slaves to an image of what we should be and miss the freedom that comes with being who we really are.
Many times when I compare myself to others I make dangerous mistakes. I either prop myself up and push others down, allowing to think I am doing really well because of my perceived superiority, or I see myself as a complete failure because of someone else’s success. Comparisons make us ride a out of control emotional roller coaster. I become a hostage to my emotions. The dirty little secret about comparisons that I have learned recently is that comparing yourself is really a form of pride.
Two areas that I struggle with are Comparisons with my dad and comparisons with my peers.
Comparison with Dad - I have a great relationship with my dad but it is easy to compare myself with where he was in his ministry or his life when he was my age. I know other people struggle with the desire to please their dad and live up to his expectations.
Comparisons with Peers - This is probably the worst arena of comparisons for me. It is so easy to compare myself with my friends and co-workers. Performance is valued highly in western culture an the pressure to perform is exhausting. I think preachers really struggle with this because we have so much value tied into how we do when we teach. Everyone else is evaluating us as we teach and so we also evaluate ourselves. We can fall in the trap of equating our personal value to our teaching popularity. Compounding the problem is the power of the internet and podcasts.
Honestly the only way to be free from comparing yourself with your peers is to choose to walk in humility. Dictionary.com defines humility as: having a modest opinion or estimate of one’s own importance and rank. I really like that definition. Humility frees us to be who we really are. 1 Peter 5:5 says: “And all of you clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God resists the proud,but gives grace to the humble.” Humility covers our nakedness and our insecurities. Humility brings God’s favor on our life
If you struggle with humility and comparing yourself to others I encourage you to trust God and fire yourself from comparing yourself to others. That will allow you to find true freedom and the ability to enjoy your life.
I talk about this topic a lot more on this week’s podcast from Green Hills Church. Check it out here!
Just click the link to listen: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=274809927
