We compare our food choices in order to make an informed decision about what we eat. Our employers compare our work to industry standards to help us succeed. God in His Word compares the things of the flesh with the things of the Spirit to teach us.

Comparisons brew trouble, though, when we make them in order to evaluate something already decided.

It’s no good to compare ourselves to others to determine our worth- God’s already decided that.
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There is also no gain in comparing our situations with others’ to evaluate if we have enough- God’s already provided.

Despite the apparent foolishness of unhealthy comparisons, the temptation looms anyway. If we have no helpful comparison to make, we’ll often settle for whatever reference point we can get.

Fortunately, there are many better comparisons that God suggests we make:

#1: Compare Hard Circumstances With Future Glory

“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” –2 Cor 4:17

Holding up our troubles against what we know of future glory is a helpful comparison. There are so many things we don’t and won’t understand in our earthly lives. But we do have the promise that everything weighing us down now will be outweighed (beyond measure!) in the wonderful, perfect, glory of eternity.

EXAMPLE:

Joni Eareckson Tada, who has lived 50 years paralyzed from the neck down, often compares her present hardship to the whole and complete resurrection body God will give her in the future. The hurt of now doesn’t hold a candle to the joy of that day.

#2: Compare Yourself to God Instead of Others

“To whom then will you liken God, or what likeness compare with him?” –Isaiah 40:18

Looking around at others gives us a false standard of measurement. We easily fall into the snares of putting people up on pedestals or building ourselves up at others’ expense. Jealousy, slander, greed, and sinful excuses often result.

When we compare ourselves to God instead of to others, we are given an accurate and beneficial perspective- on ourselves, others, and God.

EXAMPLE:

Job’s story reverberates with unfairness. After tremendous loss, his friends (who, though unwise, still had their lives put together) came by to compare Job to wicked men and their own ideas.

God stepped in and had Job compare himself to God, asking where he was when the earth was formed or if he could shut up the sea. Through the comparisons, Job was both humbled and comforted as he better recognized God as God and himself as a mere but beloved man.

#3: Compare Your Response to God’s Commands

“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” –2 Cor 13:5

In our performance-driven culture, we often compare what we do with worldly measures. We subconsciously form definitions of success, righteousness, and wisdom based on our experiences instead of God’s Word.

Comparing our responses, actions, and attitudes to God’s Word helps us see our need for God’s mercy. When we make this kind of comparison, we learn to abide in Him. Instead of striving vainly, we find ourselves seeking God, believing following His will is success, righteousness, and wisdom.

EXAMPLE:

A certain guy I know points out that when we find ourselves defensive, we need to check whose will we are justifying. Often our response to criticism reveals sinful motives. That’s an opportunity to apologize humbly, listen carefully, and demonstrate that God is the One we live to please and His word is worth obeying.

Swapping out better comparisons for the unhealthy kind we often make secures us in our God-given identity.

[This post was originally published here]

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LINKUP is open. This week, my friend @BethanyMcIlrath suggests 3 kinds of comparisons to make instead of the unhealthy, envious kind we tend to choose. Join us? #RechargeWednesday
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The post 3 (Better) Forms of Comparison {Recharge Wednesday LINKUP} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

The king continued walking through his garden, dismayed by its desolate state, when he came across a small violet. Its tiny frame was beautifully bright and full of life. The king told the small flower: “You look radiant! You don’t seem to be the least disheartened about the misery and discouragement around you.” The violet replied: “No, I am not. I know I’m small, yet, I imagine that if you wanted an oak tree or a pine tree where I am, you would have planted one. Since I know you wanted a violet, I am determined to be the very best violet I can be.”

This allegory gives me pause. It makes me think of how much time and energy we waste wishing for something we cannot attain, or striving to be someone we were never meant to be.

We hear stories of beautiful women who submit themselves to excruciatingly painful procedures to change their body’s shape. We watch as people’s faces become deformed because they cannot accept aging as a natural process of life. We hear about young teenagers who starve themselves in an attempt to look like celebrities and models in magazines. We witness preachers striving to copy famous preachers, parents pushing their kids to the extremes of competition, and employees begrudging their peers for being promoted.

Envy and jealousy sear in a society that insists on believing that the grass is always greener on the other side. #MondayDevotional #MondayMotivation
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I can’t help but imagine God as the king in the story, sadly walking through his garden and watching his plants become gloomy and lifeless where he planted them.

He watches as we sneer at His provision and His unique design for each of our lives, and as His work becomes repetitious and dull, rather than vibrantly unique.

It’s not that we shouldn’t strive to become better. I am certainly not against all plastic surgery, seeking better job opportunities or admiring those who are great examples of leadership for the work of the kingdom. We should indeed look at successful people and appreciate their unique virtues and, whenever their success is more than skin deep, even look up to them as great examples to follow. But the issue becomes when we are so engrossed comparing ourselves to others and desiring their shade of glory, that we forget that God has a unique plan for each one of us, and that our job is to be the very best we can be, wherever he plants us.

Sometimes we are so engrossed comparing ourselves to others and desiring their shade of glory, that we forget that God has a unique plan for each one of us. #MondayMotivation #MondayDevotional
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It’s true — the happiest, most successful and fulfilled human beings are those who embrace their uniqueness, play on their strengths and find contentment wherever God places them. Whether as a mighty oak tree or a small violet planted on the corner of the garden, their secret is accepting themselves and their place of service with grateful hearts, remembering that if and when God wants them to bear fruit elsewhere, he will make provision to move them to a broader field.

Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, That I not be full and deny You and say, “Who is the Lord?” Or that I not be in want and steal, and profane the name of my God. ~ Proverbs 30:8-9

The post Are You Content with Your Portion? appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

The king continued walking through his garden, dismayed by its desolate state, when he came across a small violet. Its tiny frame was beautifully bright and full of life. The king told the small flower: “You look radiant! You don’t seem to be the least disheartened about the misery and discouragement around you.” The violet replied: “No, I am not. I know I’m small, yet, I imagine that if you wanted an oak tree or a pine tree where I am, you would have planted one. Since I know you wanted a violet, I am determined to be the very best violet I can be.”

This allegory gives me pause. It makes me think of how much time and energy we waste wishing for something we cannot attain, or striving to be someone we were never meant to be.

How much time and energy we waste wishing for something we cannot attain, or striving to be someone we were never meant to be. #RechargeWednesday
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We hear stories of beautiful women who submit themselves to excruciatingly painful procedures to change their body’s shape. We watch as people’s faces become deformed because they cannot accept aging as a natural process of life. We hear about young teenagers who starve themselves in an attempt to look like celebrities and models on magazines. We witness preachers striving to copy famous preachers, parents pushing their kids to the extremes of competition, and employees begrudging their peers for being promoted.

---

Envy and jealousy sear in a society that insists on believing that the grass is always greener on the other side.
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---

I can’t help but imagine God as the king in the story, sadly walking through his garden and watching his plants become gloomy and lifeless where he planted them. He watches as we sneer at his provision and his unique design for each of our lives, and as his work becomes repetitious and dull, rather than vibrantly unique.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. Psalm 139:14

It’s not that we shouldn’t strive to become better. I am certainly not against all plastic surgery, seeking better job opportunities or admiring those who are great examples of leadership for the work of the kingdom. We should indeed look at successful people and appreciate their unique virtues and, whenever their success is more than skin deep, even look up to them as great examples to follow. But the issue becomes when we are so engrossed comparing ourselves to others and desiring their shade of glory, that we forget that God has a unique plan for each one of us, and that our job is to be the very best we can be, wherever he plants us.

It’s true — the happiest, most successful and fulfilled human beings are those who embrace their uniqueness, play on their strengths and find contentment wherever God places them. Whether as a mighty oak tree or a small violet planted on the corner of the garden, their secret is accepting themselves and their place of service with grateful hearts, remembering that if and when God wants them to bear fruit elsewhere, he will make provision to move them to a broader field.

This article was originally published in Patricia’s Column for The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC)

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LINKUP PARTY is open! As we approach the holidays, @PatHolbrook reflects on one of the reasons some remain ungrateful: Comparison. Join us & share your blog!
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The post Comparison – Joy and Purpose Killer {Recharge Wednesday LINKUP} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.

They didn’t see his pain.

They didn’t notice his need.

They didn’t care that he was in the house of the Lord.

What they cared about was entrapping their perceived enemy, the one who threatened long-held traditions and the law that elevated them to a pious, powerful place. They wanted to defend what they thought they understood. Their goal was to prove their point.

So what they saw was an opportunity.

“He went into their synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, ‘Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?’” –Matthew 12:9-10

Jesus never mistook a person for an opportunity.

The perfect example of love, Jesus never used a person as a way of self-seeking.
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In His response, He addressed the man, his pain, and his need. He also highlighted the God whose house the man was in. He had mercy on him. Jesus healed the man and redirected the conversation.

Much as they tried to make it about rightness, Jesus redirected them to God’s righteousness.

While they used men to serve their purposes, Jesus served men to fulfill God’s purposes.

Sadly, we tend to be more like the Pharisees.

Too often, we regard people as obstacles like when we:

• Are curt with people for efficiency’s sake
• Place convenience over kindness
• See other people’s challenges as hindrances or provocation to compare ourselves

Other times, we use people as a means to our ends, like when we:

• Expect people to be the means to our happiness
• Enable others so we can avoid confrontation
• Complain to loved ones so we feel better, regardless of how it affects them

Will you join me in asking the Lord’s forgiveness for seeing people as opportunities to be served instead of as opportunities to serve?

I’d like to be more Christ-like in my view of others, how about you?

LINKUP PARTY opens at 6 am EST!

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LINKUP PARTY is open! Today, @BethanyMcIlrath invites us ponder: Do we see people as opportunities to be served... or as opportunities to serve? JOIN US! Also for a chance to be featured as next week's Guest Blogger.
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Would you like to be considered for a guest post on next week’s Linkup, June 13th?

All you have to do is: 1) link your recent blog post, 2) tweet that you are joining us and 3) add our button to your blog (code is on the sidebar.)

We will  contact the winner this Friday!

 

The post Seeing People as People {Recharge Wednesday LINKUP} appeared first on Soaring With Him Ministries.