I took a leap of faith in November of 2011 and wrote a post about comparison and it seemed to resonate with so many of you, I've wanted to share more on the subject in a few more posts.
You can find the original post here.
Today, I wanted to dig a little deeper and share part two.
I shared about this at The Pearl Event in Atlanta recently, mainly because I feel so strongly that comparison is the trap and the snare that will keep us from walking in our full purpose and destiny.
It will paralyze us.
It will keep us from walking in our true identity in Christ.
If we get to the root of what comparison is really all about....
It's this.
Comparison is a form of unbelief.
When we fall into the trap of comparison we are essentially telling the Lord this,
I don't believe you.
I don't believe that I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
I don't believe that you have a purpose and a plan for me.
I don't believe that my identity is in you.
I don't believe that you are going to work all things together for my good and your Glory.
I don't believe that I have unique giftings and talents and abilities.
I don't believe that you love me as much as you love everyone else.
When we get to the root of all of these thoughts and feelings and emotions and when we uncover
and unravel and pull back the layers on all of these things.
What is hidden underneath all the rubble and is at the core of what keeps that thing alive inside each one of us is this...
Unbelief.
And if we have our eyes on everyone else and all that God is doing in and through everyone else, then there is absolutely no way on earth we will ever accomplish our purpose when we are busy wishing for what everyone else has in life.
We're just too miserable.
And misery loves company.
The sisters of comparison are jealousy and envy.
Comparison, jealousy and envy are the spiritual trifecta that will bring us down to the point of no return.
Once we've entered into this triangle of destruction, we can forget about even coming close to fulfilling our purpose and destiny.
We can barely get through a Tuesday.
Ask me how I know.
When we aren't rooted and grounded in Christ. When we take our eyes off of Him. When we are constantly looking at everyone else and holding up our little pink measuring tape to compare ourselves with everyone else in life -
we can miss out on our very own beautiful life.
Jesus said this in Mark 12:24
"Your mistake is that you do not know the scriptures and you do not know the power of God."
If that isn't the honest to goodness truth then I don't know what is.
There is life changing truth in the word of God.
And there is power.
Power to transform us from the inside out. Power to equip us with our true identity. Power to heal us and change us and deliver us and set our feet like hinds feet on the rock. Power to set us free from comparison and jealousy and envy and equip us with the knowledge we need, in order to deliver us from every insecurity and root of unbelief. Power to offer us the gift that is being able to truly rejoice with others and celebrate their unique gifts and talents and to truly enjoy one another instead of attempting to compete with one another - or worse, to try and crush and destroy one another with our words.
I love this scripture in II Samuel 22:25 - The Message
"God rewrote the text of my life when I opened the book of my heart to his eyes."
I think sometimes we can easily get stuck in comparison when we are walking through some really hard things in life. It's easy to shift our eyes from Him to our circumstances and the longer it takes for those circumstances to straighten out- the easier it can be for us to shift our eyes onto others and start to compare ourselves every which way known to man and then some.
When we are walking through really hard things in life,
we can forget that God is the ultimate author.
We can forget that He can edit, delete, remove, start over and even hit fast forward.
Listen beautiful friends,
He can rewrite our life.
It doesn't have to stay the same. It doesn't have to remain the way its always been. It doesn't have to end the way it began. It doesn't have to end up the way it ended up for everyone else in the family.
You can allow God to change everything.
It starts with a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
It starts with the offering up of all of our unbelief and mistakes and wrong doing and heartaches and insecurities, just to name a few and then begins with the receiving of an outpouring of His love and forgiveness and mercy and grace.
It continues with this life changing truth.
Our identity is in Him.
No matter what.
It matters not.
Once we are rooted and grounded in our true identity in Him. Everything else has to fall to the wayside.
This life changing truth will hold you steady when you walk through the fire in life. It will hold you upright when others try and tear you down and try and destroy you out of their own jealousy and insecurity. It will keep you and equip you and enable you when everything else in life tries to overtake you.
Because you know who you are in Christ.
My favorite example of this is found in the book of Ruth.
I love the book of Ruth.
It will rock your world.
I want to encourage you to read from the book of Ruth when you have time, but in the meantime take a look at this...
"Now it happened at midnight that the man was startled, and turned himself; and there, a woman was lying at his feet. And he said, "Who are you?"
So she answered,
I am Ruth, your maidservant. Take your maidservant under your wing, for you are a close relative. ~ Ruth 3:9-10
I love her response. Love.
Y'all, Ruth was walking through some hard things.
She had some circumstances. Ruth could have answered Boaz in any number of other ways. She had every reason not to respond to him at all. She had every reason to run from the threshing floor and never return. She had every reason to try and explain her story about how she'd lost her husband and was a widow now. She had every reason to try and compare herself to every other woman who was working out in the field and let every insecurity rise up from within her during this encounter with Boaz and ruin her opportunity.
But she didn't.
Look at her response. She said this....
I am Ruth.
She knew her identity. She knew her worth. She knew her value.
If every, single one of us could fill in Ruth's name with our own, the next time the enemy tries to convince us to fall into the trap of comparison, or envy, or jealousy
then we could silence him.
The enemy is just waiting to catch us when we are feeling like absolutely nothing- when we are feeling like a complete failure, so that he can flood our hearts and minds with a full blown identity crisis.
He wants to convince us to compare ourselves, because when we do-
we will fall short every time.
But when you know who you are and whose you are- you can stand on that truth.
And you are no longer spending your days comparing yourself with anyone or anything...
It matters not.
You can fill in that blank with your name and with Godly confidence and boldness in Christ.
I am ___________.
And you can watch healing take place in your heart and soak up His love and His goodness and His mercy and His grace and watch as purpose begins to take shape and the very reason you were created begins to unfold. All for your good and His glory.
Here's to a year filled with
no comparison beautiful friends.
You are fearfully and wonderfully made, full of great purpose and destiny.
Saturate your heart with that truth and fill in the blank out loud. Decree it and declare it today.
Love to you precious friends.
I am Sibi.
Thank you again to my beautiful friend Ashley Sweeney for allowing me to photograph her with my own personal pink measuring tapes in 2011. Your willingness to help me with the pictures for this topic brought this post to life for so many women. So grateful for you. Love you sweet friend.
