Chances are in the past 24 hours you have compared yourself to someone or something else at least one time. I know I have.
We compare ourselves, our body images, our personalities, our blemishes, our faults and failures, our trials, our life stories, our material belongings, our friends, our whole lives.
I have been letting comparison steal my joy for 3 months, and man, oh man, did it give me a big ole slap in the face.
About a week ago, I was meeting with my mentor and she stopped me dead in my track. She said “Carly, all I hear you talking about is negative things. What is bringing you joy right now?” And so, I stopped, and I thought. And I thought. And I thought. And I mustered up something about how my community was bringing me joy (lie #1). And I told her that I was going to work to do more things that brought me joy (lie #2).
But y’all, we weren’t meant to live a life full of jealousy, full of longing for other people’s things, full of sadness because we aren’t this or that or the other.
We are made perfect in His image. He has so carefully crafted a plan for our lives that is perfect. He is sovereign. And how easy is it to speak these words? I feel like I say them every single day. But until you start to believe them in your heart, comparison will continue to steal your joy.
1 Corinthians 7:17 (NIV) says “Nevertheless, each person should live as a believer in whatever situation the Lord has assigned to them, just as God has called them. This is the rule I lay down in all the churches.” This can be more easily understood through The Message version which says “And don’t be wishing you were someplace else or with someone else. Where you are right now is God’s place for you. Live and obey and love and believe right now.”
When we compare ourselves, our situations, our lives to others we take away from the story that the Creator of the Universe has prepared for us. It takes away our contentment. Comparison will leave you feeling defeated and unworthy.
How can we celebrate each other, lift one another up and spur our communities on when we are constantly wishing we were the one in the spotlight? True joy comes from being content where the Lord has you and true contentment is found at the feet of Jesus.
Take heart, dear friends, in knowing that you are in the perfect place. You are loved. You are worthy. Your story matters. And the Father cares deeply for you.
Commit to choosing joy, and I promise it will change your life.
