Comparisons

Ever see someone who looks like a person from your past and it triggers a memory? Today, I drove by one of those triggers that I will call Rhonda. Rhonda was a close friend and we had a lot in common. Including our struggle with excess weight even though she was a size smaller than I was. When you are talking plus sizes that difference isn’t just an un-noticeable 10 lbs. Rhonda eventually moved away and lost touch.

One day, I get this call from Rhonda and after several minutes of catching up, she said ” I had a bad dream last night. I dreamt you were…..” I laughed “That I was dead?” I rarely remember my dreams and she was always analyzing hers. She sounded agitated “No, but” She took a long pause and I was like “What?” ” I dreamt that you were…” “What?????” “I dreamt that you were smaller than me. Are you?” WTH! I laughed “Nope, still fat and sassy.”

She was distraught thinking I may have become smaller and that prompted the call? Did she not have anything else going on in her life to feel good about? Why does our self-esteem always have to be in comparison to others? As a Christian or a mature adult, you may think you are way beyond that. But are you? When you are feeling low do you get critical of others just to not feel so critical about yourself? When we feel good about ourselves we tend to just let others be… well JUST be.

When we compare we can stay comfortable where we are at. Comparison, where we come out the winner, makes us feel like we have accomplished something. Or at the least haven’t slipped back. And staying in the safe middle is always better than a step back or a faulty or failed foot forward. I recall a rep I had who was dying of lung cancer. She was a heavy smoker and thin as a rail. After she found out she was terminal she told me” Well at least I’m not fat like my sisters who can never stay on a diet.” Well ok. Sibling rivalry right up to the end.

The only comparison we should be making is; have we moved on from our old man? Do we see who we are in Christ? Who does our new man look like on us? Are we there? Kinda there? Or moving at least forward towards believing, speaking, and behaving as God sees us?

As I thought about this today, Big Sky Daddy said to me: “It’s time to stop looking in your rearview mirror and everyone else’s.” 🙂

God made you uniquely you! Work on living your best life and version of yourself now.