Teddy Roosevelt was right. Comparison is the thief of joy.
Yet many of us will live our lives trying to pretend that’s not true. As a result, we will wear the labels the world sticks on us as we incessantly look at other people to see how we stack up. There are two inherent dangers in comparison:
1. It makes us undervalue ourselves
Comparing ourselves to others perpetually makes us think we are never good enough. We are not certain enough, not smart enough, not thin enough, not successful enough, our work isn’t good enough, and our kids don’t behave well enough. It leads us to think we won’t be worthy until we lose weight, get a diploma, get that job, get that promotion, get married, get pregnant, drive a nicer car, or live in a bigger house.
But our value doesn’t depend on what anyone else thinks we’re worth. It depends on what God thinks we’re worth. God says we are enough, because He is enough.
Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God… 2 Corinthians 3:5
2. It makes us overvalue ourselves
Much like the Pharisee in Luke 18, we can get caught up in comparing ourselves to others to make us look better. If we get to feeling that we are not worthy, we can always find someone with less worth. If we think we are being a bad spouse, flawed parent, unruly boss or shoddy worker, we can always find someone who is a worse spouse, faultier parent, crueler boss or more unmanageable worker. We then live into a label of putting others down to make ourselves look better. We ascribe less worth to others to give us a false sense of more worth.
But our worth as a person is not established in comparison to anyone else. It was established on a cross on a hillside outside of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God… Ephesians 2:8
Perhaps Teddy Roosevelt stole his saying from God. Comparison is indeed the thief of joy.
Ryan Smallwood
P.S. To see this message in Aldersgate’s “Tattooed” series, click here
.svg)