A Biblical perspective on comparison and joy

How can I stop comparison from stealing my joy? Is this even possible? How do I stop comparing myself to others?

“Comparison is the thief of joy,” and most of us believe it.

The brilliant mind that came up with this phrase is someone who we’ve most likely heard about. It was coined by one of the Former Presidents of the USA, Theodore Roosevelt.

He must have had his share of people comparing him to former presidents, and he probably even compared himself.

Sometimes as couples, whether married or not, friends and colleagues, we allow jealousy and comparison to get the best of us. We can’t afford for this to happen anymore!

Before you left your home to go to work, you may have paused at your door and quickly perused your outfit. The sun shone through the window and lit your outfit just right that you felt confident and sure that your attire was awesome.

You’ve just arrived at your job, and your co-worker enters the establishment just before you do. Then wham, out of nowhere, you couldn’t help but notice that the clothing he or she is wearing is new in comparison to your work outfit.

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Now, you’re not so sure.

Your confidence dwindles, and your posture isn’t as erect.

For the rest of the day, every time you see your co-worker, you question yourself.

Why can’t I get a new outfit? (Your bank account won’t allow it)
Do I have to budget everything that I spend? (You do because you forgot to pay your light bill the last time.)

Why, Why? This has probably never happened to you, but surely some of us have found ourselves in this predicament or similar.

Maybe you were invited to attend an event and didn’t understand the difference between semi-formal and formal. Now you’re a little uncomfortable as you notice the differences between you and everyone else.

The joy you had was temporarily lost, some even permanently lost because you’ve allowed how you view yourself compared to someone else to steal it.

Why should we let others have power over us, to the point where we are unhappy with ourselves?

Here are 4 ways comparison can make you unhappy.

It can cause you to become ungrateful.
You may be unhappy with who you are
It can cause your faith in Jesus to diminish.
A pathway to other sins can be opened.

Ungratefulness

When comparison rears its ugly head in your life, best believe things are going to change. Your spending habits might increase, and debt becomes an issue. Debt can then lead to depression, which is a scary place to be.

Jealousy can cause you to buy things for yourself that you don’t need and can’t afford. This is how you can end up in debt. If what you have isn’t good enough for you, you can find yourself in this very situation.

It might be that as a married couple, you look at the way your friend’s wife treats him or vice versa, and bitterness and complaint start crippling your marriage.

Suddenly a little pebble can turn into a mountain with you wondering how you ended up there.

Related Post: 4 ways to live a life that brings you joy

Unhappiness

If you constantly compare yourselves to others, this will lead to feelings of inadequacy and unhappiness. You will find it hard to be happy for others because your own feelings towards yourself are resentful. All that will come out is exactly how you view yourself.

However, this is what will happen if you continue to put yourself down. Before you can love others, you have to love yourself. Before you can be happy for others, you have to cultivate your own happiness.

Continuing down the path of unhappiness will definitely affect your joy. The joy you have is from the Lord, but it can be affected if comparison is a part of who you are daily.

Faithlessness

As a believer in Christ, comparison can definitely cripple our faith in God. One thing to keep in mind is that you are still a sinner, and it’s the side that we feed most that becomes strong. Which side are you feeding, the flesh, or the spirit?

To feed the flesh would be to allow comparison to your joy in Jesus. If you are walking around like a defeated Christian, how can you exercise faith in God and in what He alone can do for you?

All comparison will do is lead you to condemnation and loneliness.

Sin will multiply

The Bible tells us that if we transgress in one area, we are guilty of all. Whenever I lied to my parents as a child, they would tell me that wherever you find a liar, you will find a thief and a murderer.

A guest pastor came to my church when I was younger and asked us a trick question. He asked, “How many of the ten commandments are you guilty of?

Many of the congregation answered, some saying 1, others said 3, and some didn’t answer. What we learned from that question was if we committed one, we were guilty of all. And this is why you begin a journey on a slippery path once you allow comparison to taking root in your heart.

It is no coincidence that if we yield to comparing ourselves with others, we open ourselves up to envy, jealousy, greed, and the list will keep growing.

A biblical perspective on comparison and joy

How do I stop comparing myself to others?

By praying
Reading God’s word and holding on to His promises.
By training your mind
Uplifting others

Prayer

Can you believe that as Christians, we belittle the power of prayer? Whenever these feelings of jealousy arise within us, this is when we need to pray. God wants us to bring our burdens to Him and leave them at the foot of the cross.

Our greatest weapon as a believer is access to the throne of God. We have free access, anytime, anywhere, whenever we want.

Our bill is paid in full. The lines are never busy, and we always have great customer service. Go to God and ask him to help you whenever the temptation arises. God always gives us a way of escape.

The Bible

The Bible is our manual for life. If we overcome temptation and sin, we ought to read the blueprint that God has given us. I Cor.10:13 lets us know that everything we go through is common to man, but God is faithful.

There are so many promises in God’s word that you can rely on whenever comparison wants to steal your joy. God promised to give power to the weak and to those who have no might he increases strength. (Isa.40:29)

Grab hold of God’s promises and trust his word.

It’s all in the mind.

Whatsoever a man thinketh in his mind, so is he. (Pro.23:7) Your mind is mighty. If you believe that you are sick, your mind can cause your body to function as such.

This is why we must train our minds to think about positive thoughts. (Phil.4:8) If we allow our mind to have free reign, we are usually very hard on ourselves and can easily fall into the trap of comparing ourselves with others.

Put others first

There is just something about serving others that causes us to take a step back and forget about our own problems. When we open ourselves to esteeming others higher than ourselves, we appreciate who we are.

Jesus’ ministry on earth was always in service to others. He knew what he came to do was difficult, yet he chose to put the needs of those around him first. It was only at the end, right before his betrayal, that he prayed to God to let this cup pass from him.

When you are caught up in yourself and don’t minister to others, it’s easy for you to think that everyone is far better and more important, but everyone struggles with something.

Whenever comparison tries to steal your joy, nip it at the root, get into the word of God, pray, allow God to take captive of your mind, and have a heart of service for others.