Comparison seems to be the epitome of social struggles that we as people face in the world. I am certainly not the first to say it but, what with Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Twitter, and a myriad of other forms of social media out there, there is this constant need to paint a picture of perfection to the world. Whether it be to show our photographic skills, our unfathomable wisdom, our creative memes, or our undying love for ______(fill in the blank e.g. family, food, pets, nature etc.), there’s often this underlying competitiveness that we don’t like to admit to. So why this competition? Why this need to constantly be better than the next person? Well, I know of one person who attempted to make a comparison, was put in his place, and now, 2 thousand years later, his story is still being told.
In the last couple of chapters of each of the Gospels, Jesus is revealing Himself to His disciples after His resurrection. He shows up at various places at various occasions. But, one occasion in particular that has stood out to me the most in these last couple of months was when Jesus appears to Peter; at the very place Jesus has called him out of…fishing.
I tend to get pretty wordy so I won’t lay out the whole story. But, I would encourage you to read it (John 21 the whole chapter). Towards the end of this encounter, Jesus has asked Peter three times if he loves him [Jesus]. Three times Peter has declared that yes, he loved him. Jesus’ following statement is a pretty interesting one:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to gird yourself and walk wherever you wished; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will gird you, and bring you where you do not wish to go.” Now this He said, signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God.
Now, I don’t know about you but, if Jesus had just finished telling me that my death would be a brutal death I might re-think the whole loving Him!…well, maybe not. Hopefully not! But I probably wouldn’t be excited about it. So look what Peter does next:
“Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them;…So Peter seeing him said to Jesus, “Lord, and what about this man?”
Peter is looking for someone else to suffer like he is going to suffer. He’s finding someone to compare himself to in order to ease the brutality of his future death. I had never truly understood what Jesus meant by his next words. But, when the Holy Spirit revealed to me what Jesus was saying (in my own simple way of understanding) I was convicted but challenged at the same time:
Jesus said to him, “If I want him to remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow Me!”
Wow! Talk about short, sweet, and to the point! ‘What is that to you?’! Really Jesus!? You basically just told Peter ‘What do you care Peter, don’t worry about others. Worry about yourself!’. I love that the Bible has an exclamation point after that sentence. But Jesus is right.
Why should I worry about someone else? Why should I be concerned about the path they’re walking? Or how they’re living their life? Or how they’re portraying their life through social media? My concern should be to live my life according to how Jesus lived His. The more time I invest in looking at other people’s lives, the less time I invest in looking at my own life and living as Christ would have me live.
Now, don’t get me wrong. Trying to be creative on social media is not wrong. I am definitely one of those arrange-your-plates-for-a-food-shot girl. I am a huge fan of VSCO and FontCandy (even though I don’t truly claim to be a photographer or artist). In fact, right before writing this blog, I spent a good amount of time rearranging my books and Bible to get a nice shot (hehehe). I’m in Coronado on a sunny day, under a shady tree, with very green grass, jazzy guitar music playing, and my brother laying down on the grass reading for his class while I was also reading! How could I NOT take pictures of such a perfectly, beautiful day?!
But, I am the queen of comparison! And not in a good way. I tend to see how others are doing “better” in life in comparison to mine. But, if my life could be summed up with the pictures I post on Instagram, I would not be living a very full and abundant life (especially since the majority of my pictures consist of our puppy Apollo!).
Comparison is the thief of happiness. So let’s stop comparing ourselves to each other. Let’s stop growing bitter because someone else has a seemingly better life than we do. And let’s stop fueling our ego because someone else might seemingly have a worse life than we do. I would challenge you today…be content. Live a life of gratitude. Thank God for His many blessings and keep your eyes on your own path and off of others. You’d be surprised how different you might view your life.
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