We all do it. Comparing ourselves to one another is just part of human nature but is also a social skill we are raised up with. Our society encourages such comparison. Telling us who's smarter, who's more attractive, who's more important, parents comparing you to your siblings or your peers, people telling us we must be better than everyone us etc. But this way of thinking can be harmful. Today I'm going to talk about a few reasons why the only person we should compare ourselves to is ourself.
The first reason we shouldn't compare ourselves to others is that everyone is different. Comparing oneself to somebody else is like comparing apples to orange. We all were blessed with things that makes us unique. Romans 12:6, "We all have different gifts, each of which came because of the grace God gave us." If God meant for us to all be the same then He would of made us that way but He didn't. By comparing yourself, you're always going to feel as though someone is better than you and this will always leave you coming up short. This could cause us to be jealous or envious of others. This negative comparison leads towards insecurities, which then can lead to meanness and even bullying.
Just as you can find someone who is better than you, you can also find someone worse than you, which brings us to our second reason why we shouldn't compare. When you believe someone is not as good as you, you began to judge and criticize them. Causing you to be prideful and narcissistic. You feel as though you have authority over them and you are more powerful then them. When in reality you are no better then they are.
Finally, when we do come up short towards what we believe we should be, we begin to change ourselves into that image of perfection that society gives us. For example, when girls see magazines of women who are thin and beautiful, they want to be like that too. Causing them to develop an extreme preoccupation with weight and appearance, and making them more likely to display disordered eating patterns and/or clinical eating disorders. They hide or get rid of they're own beautiful quality's to become societies idea of beauty.
For these reasons comparing oneself to others is something as Christians we should not do. Instead why not simply redirect the comparison to a past and a present self. And try to improve our heart. Noticing that no person is more or less; that we should not envy others, nor should we be boastful. And start loving others as well as loving ourselves. Seeing that the things that make us different make us wonderful.
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