Compare Not: My New Commandment (for me, of course)

We are originals

But in all this comparing and grading and competing, they quite miss the point. 2 Cor. 10:12a

What a tendency we have to measure ourselves against others.  Sugrínõ, Greek for compare, comes from two words which mean to judge together.  Literally, it means to compare one thing with another by noting similarities and differences.  It can be used in a good sense, as in comparing spiritual things with spiritual, but I think we most often use it in a negative sense.  We have a mental ruler in our head: a calculator.  When we compare “downward” on our scale we are full of disgusting pride.  The worst of us try to push others down so as to feel better about ourselves.  When we compare “upward” on our scale we become full of insecurity.  I remember when I first realized that I had two major spiritual issues:  judging others and feeling insecure.  At the time I thought they were the strangest combination.  Now I realize they go together like soup and salad.

We think about how someone is a better mother, more supportive wife, or someone with a more intimate relationship with God. We compare our hips, our hair, our histories.  Our abilities and athleticism.  Our Christian walks.

Since this is the kind of life we have chosen, the life of the Spirit, let us make sure that we do not just hold it as an idea in our heads or a sentiment in our hearts, but work out its implications in every detail of our lives. That means we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original. Ga. 5:25

Instead of making mental Venn diagrams, we need to remember that each of us is a unique creation.  What is your destiny?  What is mine?  All I know is that each of us is uniquely loved by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Inside the circle of that love we can find the kind of security that doesn’t sugrínõ.