The Cause of Unhappiness
“For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise”
Some of my most miserable days are when I am jealous of others in ministry. Let’s be honest, comparison leads to jealously and jealously is the belief that God has not done enough for you. Jealously carries with it an attitude of unhappiness and unthankfulness.
What happens when you compare yourself to others? Usually it’s one of two things: either you perceive the other person to be far ahead of you and you feel discouraged, or you perceive yourself to be better than the other person, and you become proud. Neither of those is good for you, and neither will help you to grow.
Comparing yourself to others is really just a needless distraction.
The only one you should compare yourself to is you. Your mission is to become better today than you were yesterday. You do that by focusing on what you can do today to improve and grow. Do that enough, and if you look back and compare the you of weeks, months, or years ago to the you of today, you should be greatly encouraged by your progress.