Compare? Au Contraire!

Hey all,

So, ( I say this word a lot), I just wanted to write about something that has been reoccurring in my mind recently and was spoken about in tonight's bible study at my church. Its about comparison. We compare ourselves to others in relation to everything under the sun: a job they have that you don’t have, a relationship that’s eluding you that ‘everyone’ seems to have, money that people ‘don’t deserve’ but you do, long hair that grows so rapidly out of some peoples' head and not-so-much others (guilty as charged)

Regardless of what we compare ourselves over, I think it leads to one major thing – bitterness. On the way to bitterness, you get angry, you get jealous, you get upset and for what?

I think that we humans have really lost the art of contentment i.e. im happy with what I have at this very moment. We are always clammering for what we don’t have, and the reason normally boils down to – everyone else has it.

I know that its not easy to not compare your life to others, we’ve all done it and it comes somewhat naturally. However, if we are going to be well balanced, happy people, we need to get a big handle on dealing with comparison and the issues it brings.

Just a quick aside, being bitter is not a good look.  I  was speaking to a friend today and we spoke about a Yahoo! Article on how Kim K is all that’s wrong with the world or something. My first reaction was “harsh”, but actually, that’s such an insane thing to say. I believe who ever wrote that article is suffering from Green disease. Ok, so she got lucky and made money out of not doing very much (love you Kimmy, but its true) and now you want to place all the ills of the world on her shoulders? Come on. Then this whole beiber thing. If you're on that bandwagon, I kindly urge you to jump off at the next stop for a quick break and reevaluate whether you want to get back on it.

Justin beiber is like a 12 year old boy lol who can sing, and has made a lot of money. Why would someone say they wish he wasn’t born or send him death threats? Are we real here? Yes, you might say, nah demi chill, its jokes, but that’s how ‘jokes’ turn bitter. Be happy for people. You may be able to sing 17 octaves more than beibs, but celebrate or at least don’t hate on his success: look forward to your own. Ok im done, Justin send my money in the post for the plug ;)

On a serious note though, being bitter isn’t attractive. Im sure if you had a choice of eating an apple or munching on a lemon one time, you'd pick the sweeter of the fruits. People tend to be repelled by envious, bitter people, so lets sit ourselves down and ponder…

Life isn’t fair. Once again, i'd like to return to this Utopia that everyone thinks is going down here on earth. It's not brethren. Life isn’t fair. What you think should come to you may take ages or may never come. What you think others who aren’t worthy in any way of achieving, achieve it and more. So that’s settled. Although life isn’t fair in quote, I do believe it's just. And that’s because of God which leads me to my next point...

 God knows what He’s doing. I believe that God is sovereign which means he can do what He wants, when He wants to do it and how He wants to do it. If God decides that a person should have lots of money, or perfect health or whatever else, thats His prerogative. What we need to learn is that He has a plan for every life on earth. What my life will be and has been uup to this point, is vastly different from yours and its meant to be.

There are people who wish they have a fraction of what you enjoy. As much as we like to look to the next person, there are people who wish they had the body, the parents, the friends, the job, the church, the eyes that you do. So a good place to start is thanksgiving. Sounds cliché but its true. For everything you don’t have, you have so many other things. We can start with our phsycial bodies and move to our mental faculties and then on to our material possessions…

Hope!

My self/God-appointed name ‘Ireti’ means hope. Lets have hope my people; things will get better. Our prayers will get answered. We will get our desires. If we just set our face like a flint, which means ‘bone’ or look forward steadfastly, God will unravel our life story in the timetable it was meant to unraveled in. Who knows, God giving me something that I really kinda want now, would be the downfall of me, and Hes not going to be having that.

Life isn’t a box of chocolates. You can't just pix and mix. If you are so desperate to have a part of someone's life, you have to take the good the bad and the ugly. And most likely, you wont be able to handle it. We don’t always know the full picture - yeah she has money, but do you know if she got a terrible diagnosis last week? Yes all the girls like him, but do you know if his parents don’t? lets focus on our own lives, warts on all, because they are just what we can bear.

Comparing ourselves makes us miserable and ultimately, unhappy. Life is too short to be looking at what shaniqua is wearing and what car ben is driving. There's also a little principle of reaping what you sow. If you celebrate with someone at their time of joy, people will celebrate you when its your time. Its not easy but it can be done. The life God has given you is perfect for you and no one could handle it as well as you are and will continue to.

Let me stop, so as not to seem like one preacher lol, i'll bow out with a scripture though.  

Colossians 1: 11 - "We ask him to strengthen you by his glorious might with all the power you need to patiently endure everything with joy." 

Lets endure our individual challenges, not screwfacing and grumbling about what everyone else has, but with joy, with celebrating others and with a sense of hope.