Comparison is the Thief of Joy

I had a thought just a minute ago about people.

We are competitive by nature. It can be good. It can also be very destructive and horrid.

There's a bad habit of comparing people to other people. As if, somehow, one is better than the other.

Don't hear me wrong - I think sometimes healthy competition is good. If you have the right heart about it, it's a way to celebrate one's accomplishments - demonstrating their work, worth, discipline, and dedication - and can also be very humbling causing one to realize that they are indeed not the center of the universe and that every human being on the planet for the entire history of existence MESSES UP AND IS NOT PERFECT. Winning is good. Losing is good. All things (I will say, most things) have the potential to be good if they are done with grace, thanksgiving, a pure heart, a sound mind, love, mercy.

All that to say, I think it's important to be the "best 'you' you can be". What does that mean? I don't really know. I desire to live a life "worthy of the calling with which [I was] called" (Ephesians 4:1). To me that requires striving to look more like Christ, and that requires improving the way I act, think, speak, love to try my best to accomplish these things. If I'm trying my best, I am content. God is always good, perfect, loving, fair, sovereign, abounding in love and grace, and doesn't change. I falter and am weak, inconsistent, flawed, human. God still loves me and requires my all. I want Him to have it.

Even if those around me are not striving toward this same goal, I need to remind myself, and them as well, that if I'm giving my best, and they're giving their best, there isn't a need to compare and compete in that. No one's "best" is "better" in the Kingdom of God. We are all His children and loved equally by Him, because He has the capability to love perfectly and completely, unlike we do. We are in part, He is complete. We can be complete in Him.

That was definitely a rant, but I needed to get that out of my brain. Comparison is the thief of Joy.

Brothers and sisters, be content with RIGHT NOW. Strive to better yourself in the name of Christ for the glory and honor of God, but live with an attitude of thanksgiving, servitude, humility, and peace for where you are in this very moment. And this moment. And this one.

To Him be the eternal glory, Amen!

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