For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves….

(2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV).

Morris steps into a taxi, and the driver immediately says, “Perfect timing. You’re just like Dave.”

“Who’s Dave?” Morris asks.

“Dave Ericson,” the cabbie replies. “That guy did everything right. You needing a cab and me pulling up at that exact moment — that’s the kind of thing that always happened to Dave. He was a terrific athlete, sang like an opera baritone, had a memory like a steel trap. He remembered everyone’s birthday, knew exactly which fork to use at a fancy dinner, and he could fix anything.”

“No wonder you remember him.” 

“Well,” the cabbie admits, “I never actually met Dave.”

“Then how do you know so much about him?” 

“I married his widow.”

Ever get the feeling that you never quite measure up?  Someone else seems to excel at everything, or maybe people around you constantly hold up another person as “the ideal.”  It can leave us feeling deflated or frustrated. We see others who seem to succeed in every area — career, family, spiritual life — and we’re left wondering why we can’t keep up.  Sometimes others compare us.  Sometimes we compare ourselves.  Either way, we feel the weight.

Comparison is a powerful thing. If you look long enough, you can always find someone doing better, and that can create deep feelings of inadequacy.  But if you look in the other direction, you can always find someone doing worse, and that can inflate pride and self-righteousness.

That cycle — swinging between discouragement and arrogance — is exactly why Paul warned the Corinthians:  “For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.” (2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV)

The only standard Christians are called to look toward is Jesus Christ. And while we will always fall short of his perfect example, that realization isn’t meant to crush us, because where we lack, he supplies. Where we feel inadequate, he strengthens. And when pride begins to swell, he gently reminds us that everything we have comes from him.

Prayer: Father, help me to fix my eyes on Jesus rather than measuring myself against others. When I’m tempted to feel inadequate or prideful through comparison, remind me that my worth comes from being your child, not from how I measure up to those around me.  In Jesus’ name, amen.

Alan Smith
Reprinted with permission from Alan Smith’s Thought For the Day