Comparison is the Thief of Joy
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Insecurity in my life often leads me to comparing myself with others. The quote “Comparison is the thief of joy” has been credited to several different people, but I don’t really need to know who said it in order to know it is true in my life. Whether it is my weight, what I am wearing, how I parent, what kind of wife I am, or even in my daily faith walk, I often find myself comparing myself and my actions to others. This is a warning sign that once again I am feeling insecure and I am seeking validation from others, instead of focusing and listening to what God wants me to hear and do.
Galatians 1:10, ESV
For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Also, I could never possibly see what is really going on with someone. I am someone who loves Facebook! I love keeping in contact with people, sharing what I got out of my morning devotional, and things from our family’s everyday life BUT… I don’t share the really hard stuff. So, when I compare myself to someone else it is like “comparing my ‘behind the scenes reel’ to someone else’s ‘highlight reel'” and so I set myself up for an unobtainable goal!
Years ago, I read a daily devotional thought (I think it was by Rick Warren) and it included a prayer, that now stays in my prayer app on my phone:
Lord, help me to relax in your grace, to realize that you don’t expect perfection. You know what I’m made up, that there is no condemnation in Christ, that you’ll never love me any more and never love me any less because of what I do. Father, I want to walk in your grace. I want to take off the yoke of guilt and put on the yoke of grace today. Lord, help me to eliminate the negative self-talk in my life. I know now that when I put myself down, I am really questioning You—because you made me the way that I am, the way I look, with the talents and abilities I have and the ones that I don’t have. You made me just to be me.
It has really helped me because for me it can be a vicious cycle:
and when I am stuck in that cycle I leave no room for grace in my life.
Do you struggle with comparing yourself to others?
