In the midst of the current social media craze, it is hard, almost impossible, to not find myself constantly comparing myself to others. Facebook statuses and Twitter posts document every moment of people’s lives. Reading these, it is hard not to be jealous that you ate a better lunch than me, or that while I was sitting at my desk all day you were hiking and playing outside. I read blogs about friends doing missions, see pictures of hungry children being fed, and I immediately feel that my 9-5 corporate finance job is inadequate. It is easy to begin feeling that I am not doing enough, not living enough, not giving enough.
One problem with comparison is it creates a culture of jealousy. It starts a trend of communities constantly wanting to one-up each other, do better, do more. We post more pictures and blogs about the good things we do. Our motives are no longer pure. Our heart is not to hear God’s call and follow, it is to out-do our neighbor’s good deeds.
The other problem with comparison is we become dissatisfied with who God created us to be and where he has put us. His providence is not enough. We are no longer content with our own gifts. We compare our strengths to others and we are suddenly not good enough.
We can not fully love our neighbor while we are jealous of their gifts. We can not fully love ourselves while wishing we were different. We will never be satisfied if we are seeking our identity in affirmation and recognition from others.
I fully believe we were all created for an individual purpose. I know that I am a unique creation, and that the Lord is proud of me. I am his daughter. He has a plan for me. I know that at the end of my life I will sit at His feet and he will say “Well done.” Until that point, however, I am left to follow. Every day I learn more about who God is and who he created me to be. Each morning is one more step in His perfect and unique plan for my life.
I cannot let comparison rob me of knowing the fact that I am His daughter and he is proud of me. I cannot let jealousy keep me from fully loving my brothers and sisters in Christ.
I was created perfectly for this time. I am here, in this moment for a reason. I am not going to miss what God has for me today because I am dreaming of being somewhere else. I am not going to forget that I am a perfect creation because I am wishing I was someone else.

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   Young Life leader...pretty lucky. This girl...have her in my...

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