What is comparison?

Is comparison a sin?  Does comparison dishonor God for what He has given to us individually?  

Comparison is a hard topic.  I posted last week about looking for God's super power in our ordinary lives.  If you missed it, check it out here.  But the #GodSuper idea originated in my life because I was suffering from comparison.  I used to think, "Oh we all do it.  We compare ourselves so that we can strive for improvement."  That was a lie of evil that just wanted me to keep on comparing.  And I did.  I compared everything about myself.  I compared...

• My weight with any and everyone.
• My hair with other curly haired girls
• My tan, or lack thereof.
• My relationship status
• My vacation options
• My career and the impact I had on my students
• My church life
• My lack of mission work (after all I wasn't on a trip to the jungle of South America to reach those who had never heard of Jesus.

So, as you can see I was all about seeing if I stacked up to other people.  I had always struggled with comparison in my life.  I'm human after all.  But, the struggle of comparison takes on a whole new level of difficult when you throw in social media.

Social media makes comparison so much easier.  I can see other people's posts of their vacation showing off their tans and their recent weight loss, and now I'm down for the count.  I couldn't just look at the great things that other people were doing in their lives and appreciate mine.  Instead, I would beat myself up that I wasn't where I wanted to be in anything.  I missed the #GodSuper in my life.  

The questions still remain: Is comparison a sin?  Does comparison dishonor God? And, how can we combat comparison in our social media crazed world?

First, let's start with what comparison actually is.   Webster says that comparison is "an examination of two or more items to establish similarities and dissimilarities."  So we look at ourselves and at least one other person and see how we are the same and how we are different.  So, I would say that just doing that.  Seeing just the facts of how people are the same and how they are different is not, in and of itself, a sin.   The problem comes when we move from comparison to envy.  That's where the sin can start.

           Proverbs 20:10 NLT "False weights and unequal measures[a]—the Lord detests double                      standards of every kind."

If we compare with uneven weights or unequal measures then we open ourselves up for envy.  If we look at other people with a different scale than we look ourselves, we likely won't ever measure up.  When I looked at people who have never really struggled with their weight, and compared myself who has struggled all my life I wasn't being fair to myself.  I also wasn't being fair to them either.  We were unequal weights (yes that's intended to be punny)  and that caused me to have unrealistic expectations for myself.  I wanted to be that other person, I wanted their body, their weight, and their looks.  That's when envy came into play, and that's when I started to sin.

1 Samuel 16:7 tells us that God looks at our hearts not our outward appearances.  So, if I were merely looking at how we were the same and different then no big deal, but when my heart started to become jealous, God could see that and it was hurtful to Him.  I was saying that the creation that He had spent time and effort to make, being me, was worth less than another creation.  God doesn't make mistakes.  I have a purpose, so for me to be so insulting to myself it insulting to God.

Then, the final question still remains.  What do we do about it.  We find the #GodSuper moments in our lives.  These aren't just random what God has blessed you with in any area of your life.  It needs to be specific to the area you are comparing yourself in.  If not, then the #GodSuper moment is great, but probably not as helpful in combating the urge to compare and become jealous.  For example in my weight situation my #unsuper was that other people were losing more weight than I was or were already at the point I wanted to be.  But, #GodSuper I was created with a special struggle with my weight that is only for me.  God thought I was the only one strong enough to handle this particular concoction of struggles and circumstances.  I have worked hard to get where I am, and I have a strong God to bring me through the rest of this journey that I'm definitely too weak to finish on my own. 

So, where do you find yourself comparing?  Are you comparing your journey to someone else's?  What specific #GodSuper moments can you choose to believe when you are beginning to feel envious of others?  What has God given you specifically for this journey and this comparison to prevent it from taking root in your heart?  Please share your #GodSuper moments with me.  I'd love to hear how God is showing up and helping you see how He has blessed the mess.