What is comparison?How do we overcome it.
Maybe you’re struggling under the weight of constant comparison, always falling short of the impossible standard you have in your mind. Maybe you’ve lost friendships because of your constant need to be the best, or your relationships have lost intimacy because comparison has stolen your ability to be a true and uplifting friend.
Or maybe you’re just tired. Is the deep inhale and exhale brought on by sudden overwhelm. It is the moment you catch yourself being your worst critic, and then letting go of that tension. Because damn, maybe you’re just tired! It is the self-compassion that follows deep frustration, and choosing being kind and understanding to yourself when confronted with a personal flaw or a moment lacking in grace
Tired of the constant barrage of life that fills your mind with anxiety, doubt, depression, and anger because of comparison.
“I can’t keep up!” you think. You long for a place of peace where you can be loved for who you are, not for what you have, what you’ve accomplished, your popularity, influence, and likes. Loved with no filter needed.
I know, because that was me. At the beginning of this year, I decided to take a three day, water-only fast and pray over a few things I wanted to overcome in my personal life. I wrote a few prayers on post-it notes and stuck them on a wall in my closet. I was really good about getting up in the morning and spending extra time in God’s presence praying over these post-it notes… for about three days. As soon as my fast ended, my extra prayer time seemed to end as well. What didn’t end was God’s power at work in my life through those specific prayers I laid at His feet.
Like most people who experience burnout, it felt like a strange land. I had been tired before, but I had never truly been burned out. It was so disorienting I didn’t know what to do.
What terrified me is that I knew many in ministry and life had gone down this road before me and some of them never made it back.
One particular prayer was this: “Help me break free from comparison!” I felt pulled down, overcome by an invisible weight, blinded by my judgments of others. I unfollowed people on social media who made me feel inferior. I talked negatively about people who made me feel jealous and never celebrated with those who were accomplishing great things in their lives.
The only peace I had was isolation. When no one was around to compare myself to, I was safe. But loneliness set in and left my world small and my mind smaller. I wanted a way OUT!
The following reading plan is the answer I feel came straight from the Throne of Grace. Over the next 7 days we’ll explore questions like:
What is comparison?
What happens when we compare?
How do we overcome comparison?
Through these thoughts, given straight from God in my searching prayer for freedom, I believe you will also find freedom from the trap of comparison and experience the full and abundant life He planned for you.
