Comparison vs. Confidence–{Crystal Lewis}

comparison vs confidence

 .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .   .

    the importance of being y o u

1 :: c o m p a r i s o n

we’ve all thought it. we’ve all done it. “how do i measure up?” we get an idea in our brain as to what we think is cool, pretty, right, best, etc {it’s called having an opinion} and we compare ourselves (our work, our faces, our bodies, our clothes…) to this picture we now have in our heads. and at first glance, this isn’t such a bad thing. i mean, inspiration comes often times from another’s work or look. individuality is developed as we form opinions and decide what we do, and don’t, like. it’s part of becoming who we are.  the problem comes when we allow the picture in our mind to overshadow the reality of who we are. when we start to think that all the other stuff we see is better than what we see in the mirror. according to scripture, we are each unique, special, distinct.

Psalm 139:13-18

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body

and knit me together in my mother’s womb.

Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion,
as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.

How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.
They cannot be numbered!

I can’t even count them;
they outnumber the grains of sand!
And when I wake up,
you are still with me!

we can so easily get caught up in the negatives of comparison…what we’re not, what we don’t have, what we can’t do…and let that dictate our behavior.

in Matthew 20, Jesus tells a parable of a land owner:

“For the Kingdom of Heaven is like the landowner who went out early one morning to hire workers for his vineyard.  He agreed to pay the normal daily wage and sent them out to work.

 “At nine o’clock in the morning he was passing through the marketplace and saw some people standing around doing nothing.  So he hired them, telling them he would pay them whatever was right at the end of the day. So they went to work in the vineyard. At noon and again at three o’clock he did the same thing.

 “At five o’clock that afternoon he was in town again and saw some more people standing around. He asked them, ‘Why haven’t you been working today?’

 “They replied, ‘Because no one hired us.’

“The landowner told them, ‘Then go out and join the others in my vineyard.’

 “That evening he told the foreman to call the workers in and pay them, beginning with the last workers first.  When those hired at five o’clock were paid, each received a full day’s wage. When those hired first came to get their pay, they assumed they would receive more. But they, too, were paid a day’s wage.  When they received their pay, they protested to the owner,  ‘Those people worked only one hour, and yet you’ve paid them just as much as you paid us who worked all day in the scorching heat.’

 “He answered one of them, ‘Friend, I haven’t been unfair! Didn’t you agree to work all day for the usual wage?  Take your money and go. I wanted to pay this last worker the same as you.  Is it against the law for me to do what I want with my money? Should you be jealous because I am kind to others?’

 “So those who are last now will be first then, and those who are first will be last.”

i love Warren Wiersbe’s commentary on this:

‘the key to the parable is that the first workers hired demanded a contract and insisted on knowing how much they would get. the other workers trusted the landowner. if you ask God for a contract, you will only rob yourself, for He is generous with His workers. be faithful to do your job and avoid watching the other workers, and He will deal with you generously.’

the truth is we are HIS. HE made us. we are truly the clay and HE is the potter.  it’s HIS prerogative to give us, make us and use us as HE see’s fit.

and yet, i can’t tell you how many hours i’ve wasted worrying about what someone else got (special privileges,  positions, publicity, promotions) and what i felt like i deserved.  that is called jealousy. and here is what the Bible has to say about it:

proverbs 14:30

A peaceful heart leads to a healthy body;

jealousy is like cancer in the bones.

do you see the contrast? peace equals health…in other words being content and trusting the Lord. jealousy destroys. kills.