Welcome back again to another podcast of Struggling Well and Suzi. A few weeks ago, maybe months ago now, we did the thing on parenting and we talked about how as parents we got to be careful not to compare our kids with each other that
did I also mention that in my next life no kids
yeah I think you did mention that but I was going to come back to the whole idea of comparison but on a broader scale not just in how we handle our kids and raising our kids the I think comparison is one of those things that's just deadly
it is deadly
and it's but it's something that happens and you know I'm as we kind of kick this conversation off. I think of John 21 when Jesus gathers his disciples by the lake and he feeds them breakfast and then he has the restoration of Peter, which is just an amazing scene of how he restores Peter after Peter's denial of him. And he basically goes, "Peter, do you love me? Do you love me?" Three times, "Feed my sheep." And then he tells Peter how he is going to die. and Peter's response to Jesus as they walk away from that scene is he sees John, the disciple who Jesus loved, who was one of his compatriots, and he says to Jesus, "What about this man? What about this guy?" It's like Peter has to compare himself all the time. And even after that beautiful scene of restoration, which ought to be filling his mind with unbelievable joy that Jesus restored him, his concern is comparing him to John and what's going to happen to John?
And we can just click our tongues about I can't believe he did that and yet it's what we do all the time.
Yeah. No, I don't say that like oh my how could he? I say wow he it's something that bothers even one of the disciples who followed Jesus even after that scene of restoration it still is so deeply embedded in who we are as human beings.
Didn't that kind of start with Cain and Abel though too because they were com Cain was comparing his offering ing and wondered why God didn't accept his offering. Am I way out there?
Yeah. No, I think there's truth in that. He was jealous of God accepting Abel's gift.
Yeah. I we were talking about or Jimmy mentioned that comparison is deadly. And you know where we see it a lot is if you go if you look at somebody's resume and you think about okay, what would my resume be? and you think, "I have not accomplished any of these things." And you know, when you go for a job, they want to see all of your accomplishments. Another place that has really hit me recently, and oh my gosh, guys, I'm really not as morbid as I sound sometimes, but when I look at an obituary and it lists out all the things that they have done, and you go to a service and the people that the loved ones and friends lists out all the things they've done, you might think, "Well, what have I done?", Have I made any impact on the world? Have I made a difference in any way, shape, or form? And that's because this thing of comparison always comes up and it's it can be really debilitating to you because you think, well, I don't measure up, so therefore I'm not going to.
Yeah. And it's like you know, we're each fearfully and wonderfully made. The psalmist says in Psalm 139, uniquely made in the image of God. And that's the thing. Every single person is in the image of God. And yet God has gifted and equipped us differently from each other. And yet we find it maybe easier to weep with those who weep than it is to rejoice with those who rejoice. Particularly if there's reason to rejoice in something they've done or been able to do that I wish I could have done
or that you used to do
or that I used to do.
I read recently this line from a book that was just given to me called Anonymous. It's by Alicia Britt Chloe. I think that's how you say it. and it's about Jesus hidden years and yours. And she says this, "Have you ever resigned or retired from a position or title and transition from being sought out to then left out, consulted to unconsidered, celebrated to celebrating others?" And that's part of what happens as our life changes, circumstances change, what we're doing. changes, we're aging or whatever the case may be where we then begin to fall into that place of comparison.
Yeah. And when I think and understand that everybody's life, my life, your life are different, but the goal of our lives is the same that we would look more like Christ. If I want to compare something, compare myself to how I look, how am I how am I doing with looking like Jesus? Cuz that's the one place that's legitimate. to compare,
right?
I want the spirit of God to work his transforming power in me so that I resemble a little more of Jesus today than I did yesterday. That comparison is legitimate,
right?
But all the other comparisons are just saying, I don't like the path you've chosen to refine me and to get me to look more like your son. I wish my path looked more like and I named another person.
Yeah. And I think it's you look all through scripture and there's a lot of comparisons. There's a lot of jealousy over leadership. you know, the prophets certainly had people that were jealous of them but also hated them. but an interesting thing that I've been thinking about and it's in light of this book called Anonymous is Jesus life. When we look at his life, if we want to compare to his life, the first 29 years of his life, we don't know much about, right?
We know that he, you know, we know that he stayed at the temple when his parents leaving and that he was lost or they thought he was lost. We know that he was a carpenter. That's the story that we get. But we don't really know much about those times. And so if you were if you were thinking about a great religious leader, you go, "Well, it wasn't him." Because what did he do for 29 years? Nothing.
And what was his ministry? Three years. That's nothing in comparison to what we think of as successful today. And yet, could it be that in those 20 years, 29 years, and I'm And it's not just could it be, I believe it was true. The God was preparing him for that three-year window of ministry. So, if you are in a place where it looks like you're dry and dusty and disappointed, could it be that in that hard place, God is preparing you for what he is going to ask of you?
Yeah. And again, we know this, the scripture says this, that Jesus was the perfect representation of the father. If anyone had seen him, they'd seen the father. And I will never be the perfect representation of Christ. But will my life look more like Jesus? Will I ever get to a place where someone would see Jesus in how I live my life? If I want to compare to something, that's the goal of my life is to look more and more like Jesus.
Yeah. If I'm going to compare, then I look at a passage like 1 Corinthians 13. Do I love like that? Is my love in comparison to that love equival equivocal, is that the word? Maybe I just made that up. Does it measure up? When I read in Galatians about the fruit of the spirit, and I compare the way that I live, does it measure up to that? When I look at even the ten commandments, does my life measure up to that? But instead, what we do is we measure one another by one another, which is so crazy because we're all sinners. but it's what we do. And unfortunately, it's heavy in Christendom. Like, how big is your Bible study, how big is your church, how many how much money, what's your budget, all those crazy things. And God doesn't care about that stuff. He cares about our heart,
right? And so, if we're going to compare, and I know that's human nature to compare, let's compare ourselves to how we measure up in reflecting Christ to the world that we live in, Christ in the to one another, and how we treat each other.
And can I say one last thing, which I'm going to say regardless of whether you tell me I can or not, cuz it's just the way I roll. Each of us were designed uniquely. Unique, that's the word. Even though we might have similar characteristics, you might to a brother or a mother, whatever, we are uniquely designed. And when God designed us, he did so with us in mind to accomplish his will in our bodies, with our minds, everything that we have. What if instead of comparing and wishing I was like this person or looked like this person or had what this person has. Instead, I say yes to the designer. This is how you made me. Now, use me in whatever way you can. That to me would be a thrilling choice.
Yes, it would. So, we hope that this week will be a week of less comparison and more reflecting who Jesus is. Have a great week.