Compare

Happy Friday Evening Friends!

It is an absolutely gorgeous evening here on the Texas Gulf Coast. As I am typing this Happy Friday I am sitting out on the back porch, amazed by the beauty of this night. Blessed beyond measure...

Compare. Merriam-Webster.com says this about "compare":

• to say that (something) is similar to something else
• to look at (two or more things) closely in order to see what is similar or different about them or in order to decide which one is better
• to be as good or as bad as something else: to be on the same level or in the same category as something else

The word "compare" in and of itself, like most everything else including money, is not bad. It is how we choose to apply it, the emphasis we place on it and the value that we then attach to the comparison that makes it either good or bad. Please pause for a moment and think Friends; how many problems do we have in society today that can be traced to the root of comparison? Most? All?

Why does the husband leave his wife for another woman? Someone is better at (fill in the blank). Comparison. Why does the wife become disenchanted because her husband is not like (fill in the name)'s husband? Comparison. Dad hangs out at the bar or golf course instead of going home with his wife & kids because that is what the young, single dudes are doing and they are having all the fun. Comparison. Mom works a ton of overtime instead of going home because the boss is working late. Comparison. Ads on TV challenging us to look like someone or something else. Comparison. Why aren't my kids like someone else's kids? Comparison. How come I have these talents, gifts & abilities and not those like (fill in the name)? Comparison. I don't make as much money as (fill in the name). Comparison. My house doesn't look like/isn't as big as/ have as big of a yard as (fill in the name). Comparison. Comparison. Comparison. The list could go on and on.

You know the person I should be comparing myself to? The person I was yesterday. I need to focus on being better than that person...and a lot of times I get my butt kicked in that area! Nothing positive is going to come out of comparing any part of my life to someone else's...nothing! We all have strengths & weakness, good & bad qualities, successes & failures, blessings & curses. Why is it so hard for us to accept who we were created to be and to strive daily to become the very best that we are capable of becoming? Why do we have to compare and then a) try to tear the other person or group of people down in an effort, conscious or not, to make ourselves appear better than we are or b) chase after what we think we want instead of what we have at the expense of our families, countless dollars and sadly, our very own souls? It is sad, it is a game nobody wins and the cost - on all fronts - is immeasurable.

Look, I don't know who you are, what you do, where you live, how much money you make...I don't know anything about you. What I do know is that my Bible, which I choose to believe, says these things:

• Psalm 139:14, "I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;"
• Ephesians 2:10, "For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
• Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."
• Exodus 20:17, "Thou shall not covet thy neighbor's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's wife, nor his man-servant, nor his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is thy neighbors."
• Matthew 7:3, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?"

So let me say this to you, yes you, the one reading this right now; according to the Bible, YOU are fearfully and wonderfully made. YOU, yes you Friend, are God's handiwork. YOU were created in Christ Jesus to do good work, which God prepared in advance for YOU to do - which means you lack nothing. God has a plan for YOUR life. Plans to prosper YOU. Plans to give YOU a hope and a future. DO NOT covet - yearn to possess or have - anything that belongs to your neighbor. And finally, why in the heck do YOU look at something your brother or sister is doing when YOU have your own stuff to clean up?!?!

Comparing ourselves to others is a dead end road Friends. Let's not do it! Let's compare ourselves to one person...ourselves. Let's be better people, spouses, partners, parents, friends, leaders, workers...and whatever other roles we have than we were yesterday. Instead of comparing what we did or didn't do to what our spouses did or didn't do let us be the one that steps up and makes it right. Instead of being jealous of someone at work and picking them apart lets simply strive to be the very best worker we can be. Instead of comparing our life to others lets find the beauty and blessings in the things we have, in the life we live. Peace & contentment do not come from the outside...these are things that are born on the inside. Your life is far to valuable & precious to waste it striving to be someone that you were never created to be. You have so much value to add to this world however it will only happen if you are the best you that you can be.

Please don't hesitate to contact me if there is ever anything I can do for you or your family. I will always be willing to help you any way I can.

Have a great evening, a wonderful weekend and please cherish your precious families.

Kev