Inferiority slinks into our lives whispering "I don't measure up to ______". Superiority struts into our lives boasting _______doesn't measure up to me".
The markers for comparing ourselves to others are: our performance, our possessions, our personality, our position, our appearance, and other's opinions.
Years ago, I used to let it "slip" in conversations about how many people I had shared the gospel with or how long I had prayed. It is so weird when I remember back to those days, it's humorous. Apparently, I felt inferior so I worked really hard at being superior. Sick!
But I'm not the only one. It seems as though this is very common with everyone. Even the Apostle Paul compared himself to others before He knew Jesus as Messiah. In Galatians 1:14, he writes, "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions."(NASB) Then, when Jesus came to live in him, his comparison apparently ceased. In writing about people who were the "rock stars" in the church at that time, he wrote in Galatians 2:6, "...what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality..." (NASB) In another letter, he writes in 2 Corinthians 5:16 "Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at Him that way anymore." The Message
For each of us in Christ, no one is inferior and no one is superior. Galatians 3:28 says, "In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ." God has not obliterated roles but He now trumpets the joyful reality that all of us in Christ have the same value!
When I was living according to my flesh, I prayed and prayed that I would be a Godly man. I worked very hard at becoming my rendition of a Godly man. In 1991, when God revealed that my identity is in Christ and not anything else, I remember Him speaking this to my heart one day. "Mark, you're already a Godly man." Instantly, I knew that the Holy Spirit was telling me that I could stop trying to become a Godly man, because being in Christ made me a Godly man. Now, having my mind renewed, I was free to live like who I already was - a Godly man!
How about you? Do you find yourself easily falling into the comparison game? I did it recently. Though Grace Life International is one of the largest ministries of its kind in the country, I found myself comparing it to ministries who are larger or more international. It doesn't matter! If I stopped being the president of this ministry today, I would not lose my identity because it is in Christ, not in GLI. Let's praise God for who we are in Christ the next time we feel inferior or superior from comparing ourselves. Let's live like the conquerors we already are over this sinful insanity!
Live Free In Christ,
The markers for comparing ourselves to others are: our performance, our possessions, our personality, our position, our appearance, and other's opinions.
Years ago, I used to let it "slip" in conversations about how many people I had shared the gospel with or how long I had prayed. It is so weird when I remember back to those days, it's humorous. Apparently, I felt inferior so I worked really hard at being superior. Sick!
But I'm not the only one. It seems as though this is very common with everyone. Even the Apostle Paul compared himself to others before He knew Jesus as Messiah. In Galatians 1:14, he writes, "I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions."(NASB) Then, when Jesus came to live in him, his comparison apparently ceased. In writing about people who were the "rock stars" in the church at that time, he wrote in Galatians 2:6, "...what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality..." (NASB) In another letter, he writes in 2 Corinthians 5:16 "Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at Him that way anymore." The Message
For each of us in Christ, no one is inferior and no one is superior. Galatians 3:28 says, "In Christ's family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ." God has not obliterated roles but He now trumpets the joyful reality that all of us in Christ have the same value!
When I was living according to my flesh, I prayed and prayed that I would be a Godly man. I worked very hard at becoming my rendition of a Godly man. In 1991, when God revealed that my identity is in Christ and not anything else, I remember Him speaking this to my heart one day. "Mark, you're already a Godly man." Instantly, I knew that the Holy Spirit was telling me that I could stop trying to become a Godly man, because being in Christ made me a Godly man. Now, having my mind renewed, I was free to live like who I already was - a Godly man!
How about you? Do you find yourself easily falling into the comparison game? I did it recently. Though Grace Life International is one of the largest ministries of its kind in the country, I found myself comparing it to ministries who are larger or more international. It doesn't matter! If I stopped being the president of this ministry today, I would not lose my identity because it is in Christ, not in GLI. Let's praise God for who we are in Christ the next time we feel inferior or superior from comparing ourselves. Let's live like the conquerors we already are over this sinful insanity!
Live Free In Christ,
Mark Maulding, President and Founder
www.GraceLifeInternational.com All Content Copyright © 2013 Mark Maulding
