Good afternoon, God’s beloved!
Yes, you. That is you. You are God’s beloved, with whom He is well pleased.
So, my doves, today, let’s talk comparison.
I don’t know about you, but it’s fairly easy to begin comparing myself to other people. We are all prone to such comparison, I believe. We look at our siblings, our families, our friends, and think “Why aren’t I like them? Why don’t I have their gift?”
Stop it right there, beloved. You are you. God made you you for a reason. For a purpose. You are not supposed to be your friend, your sister, your brother, your co-worker, your boss, that TV star, or that other TV star – you are YOU! And you are beautiful. You are wonderful. You are exactly who you need to be for the exact purpose and exact calling that you need to fulfill.
Joyce Meyer puts it this way: Stay in your lane.
Whatever it is that God called you to do, you stick with that. Don’t look at what other people are doing and think that your gift is any less important or precious. We can admire other people’s gifts: I think we all enjoy the acting gifts of people like Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Pratt (I like Marvel). I love listening to Jennifer Hudson sing, and I love love love enjoying the baking gifts of people such as my Grandmother.
But we cannot compare our gifts to others. Your gift is your gift for a reason, beloved! Be proud of it!
I really think that God wants us to know that comparison kills. It destroys our creativity and our purpose because when we are looking to the side at the person running next to us, we trip over our own feet. And we fall, and when we wonder why, it’s because we weren’t focusing on our own race.
God will never help you be anybody else than you. There’s a song I heard for the first-time last night, and it had a lyric that said something akin to: “Fully known and fully loved by My Father”. Think about that. God fully knows you, and fully loves you. Every part about you. Every bit of humor, every gift, every talent comes from Him, and it has pleased Him to give you these gifts.
And what is the best thing to do with a gift? Enjoy it. Use it.
If your parent gave you a really nice Christmas gift, like a really nice gift, let’s say a car – would it please them if you just let the car sit in the driveway? Or if you use it because it’s a gift that they gave to you?
Obviously, it would please your parents if you would use the gift that they paid for!
So beloved, Jenn Johnson said it: comparison is a creativity killer (she was one of the inspirations for this post. It was because of her that I first learned that comparison kills creativity. And then God reminded me of it!). And it's a dream destroyer. Don’t get trapped into looking at others and thinking you aren’t as good as them. You are inferior to no one, and you are superior to no one. You are you – God’s precious creation, God’s favorite child.
We all have different gifts for different reasons. Things would be rather incomplete if we all had the same gift. If we were all actors, who would cook?
So beloved, whatever your gift is – be proud of it. I don’t care what it is. It’s there for a reason. Use it.
Remember, you are fully known and fully, utterly, deeply, and passionately loved by Your Heavenly Father.
Photo credit: Malachi Dowdell!
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