Galatians 6:4 Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else.
Two posts ago (Pay Attention) I finished with the above verse and commented that I would write about comparing yourself at a later stage. Well, here is the stage.
Comparison. We all know it is bad for us, but we do it any way. It seems so harmless and insignificant, yet it is a death trap. Comparison turns to jealousy, envy, bitterness and hatred. Not so harmless after all.
Paul gives us helpful clues on avoiding the comparison trap. Here in Galatians he encourages us to focus on our own work and to do it well. In Philippians he instructs us to press toward the goal (Philippians 3:14). In other words, we should be so busy working on what we’re supposed to be doing, and giving it all our energy, that there is no time to compare ourselves with anyone.
If you find yourself wasting time by comparing what you don’t have and wishing life were different, you’ve lost your focus. When all your effort, time and enthusiasm are fixed on pursuing your destiny, you have no energy to spare for comparison and jealousy. Get back to running your own race.
Comparison, jealousy and all the other harmful emotions associated with them make us feel bad. I used to think that it was because they were ugly feelings in themselves, but I’ve since come to another understanding. Comparing ourselves to someone else makes us feel bad because it stops us from completing our own purpose. I am happiest and most fulfilled when I am achieving what I was created for. Comparing myself stops me from doing that, hence it stops me from finding fulfilment and joy.
Be excellent and do what you do with all your might. Don’t let comparison rob you of being the best you that you can possibly be.
Be amazing.
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