Anxiety in Evidence: Comparisons

The enemy works in anxiety – because it is the opposite of our Lord, the God of peace. There are several stems that seem to flourish into anxiety, and we will address them in the coming articles. I find that they are similarly based upon ‘speaking truth’ – God’s truth sets us free from all this anxiety, also today, anxiety derived from comparing.

I know we have all done this. We have all compared ourselves to others at some point in our lives. And we may have even set out goals to be just like others. We need to have that much money and we need to provide that kind of education for our kids and drive that car because that is what I want. And I want to live in that neighborhood, and…

Maybe you aren’t material at all. Your thoughts might be more along the lines of: She is such a Godly woman. She is just like Ruth, or maybe Esther. She knows all the Bible stories, knows just what to do and says the right thing in church every time. I want to be just like that.

Or maybe you think something like this: Oh, I do that, too. But I’m not as good. I have to work harder. Or maybe I should just give it up and do something altogether different.

All of these thoughts lead to an increase in tension along the shoulders and neck. We begin to feel ‘less than’ and perhaps a develop anxiety of rejection because we are not like the others. Or maybe we begin to make these ‘wants’ into reality only to find that all of that comparison and wanting leads to a ton of headaches and stress. The anxiety takes its toll.

But did you notice how quickly it came out that I was thinking those things because it is what I want?

Other’s example, like Paul

At this point, I should clarify. There is good in what people do and how we present ourselves. There is also a time when we can appropriately see some characteristic that we want to emulate. Paul says in his first letter to the Corinthians (11:1) ‘Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.’ We identify characteristics in others that are outstanding, and that is likely because it is a Christ-like characteristic. In this, we can find that comparison has value – if we see it as an opportunity for sanctification – growing more Christ-like.

God’s Plans

But in these comparisons above, I wasn’t thinking about being Christ-like. I wasn’t thinking about what God wants or what God made me for. I was thinking about the other person doing or ‘being’ better than me. That is the trap of comparison – we think ‘better’ and we forget that really we should think ‘different.’

In comparing, I forget that the Creator of the Universe also created me. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, ‘For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.’ Not only has He created us uniquely, but he has also set out the work for us to do, the good work. So, if He set out the work for us to do, hasn’t he equipped us for that work as well? Those are the gifts that we have, compared to the gifts that person has. Different, but equipped for the job we were designed to do.

God’s Design

Afterall, if we had two ears just the same, how would you mount that second one? Backward? Upside-down? We are all members of the same body, but we cannot be an elbow if we were made a liver. 1 Corinthians 12 has much to say on who we are and how we mustn’t be just like someone else. Verse 27 says ‘Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.’ We are a part of it, we belong in the place and job to which we were intended. So, it is only natural that we are different, because we have varied functions and roles to fulfill for Christ and His body, to fulfill in this world where He places us.

Excellently Formed

Comparisons can be valuable, but they often just cause us anxiety and give a sense of ‘less than.’ But our God has planned and designed us to be the way we are and equipped us to carry out the plans that he has for us.

So since we find ourselves fashioned into all these excellently formed and marvelously functioning parts in Christ’s body, let’s just go ahead and be what we were made to be, without enviously or pridefully comparing ourselves with each other, or trying to be something we aren’t. (Romans 12: 6 MSG)