Skip to main content

Are you Living Your Best Life?

                What do these scenarios have in common?
                Two sisters live within driving distance of one another, but they never get together because every visit degenerates into an accounting of who has more and better stuff.
                Three men make fun of a mutual friend and laugh about how much smarter they are than him.
                After years of buying things that they did not need just to look successful, a family is swimming in debt and have no idea how to get out.
                A pretty girl stares into a mirror and thinks, “If only I looked different!”
                A church leader thinks that he has all the answers.  No one can do anything unless he approves of it.
                In Luke 9:46, the disciples argue about which one of them is the greatest.  Jesus tells them to stop.  Oddly enough, Luke 22:24 says that they have a second argument about the exact same subject.
                What ties those stories together?  To one degree or another, each situation is being fuelled by inappropriate comparison and competition. 
                Those stories are not made up.  I can put names to each of them.  Sadly, you likely can too.  In fact, if you were honest, you may put your own name beside a few of them.
                Why would we act this way?  The simple answer is that we have been trained to believe that life is like a pie:  If you get more, then I get less.  Therefore, my life is only good when it is better in comparison to yours.  In our most rational moments, we know that is not true, but, somehow, it feels true.
                Jesus offers a different approach.  Instead of bragging about yourself, why not take a position of humility (Luke 14:7-11).  Instead of being demanding, you could “Let your gentleness be evident to all” (Philippians 4:5).  Instead of highlighting your goodness, you could acknowledge that every spiritual blessing you have comes from God’s grace: “While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
                Comparison and competition will never lead to happiness!  In fact, those attitudes will kill every bit of joy within you.
                On the other hand, when you are thankful for the gifts you have been given and share them, you end up blessing yourself and others. 
    What could be better than that?

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Terrible Trade

            I used to have a Wayne Gretzky rookie card.               However, when I was 12 years old I did not like Wayne Gretzky, so I traded the card to my brother.   A few years ago, I remembered that incident, so I went looking for the card. Sure enough, there is was in a box in my mom’s basement.   Now here is the thing:   even in bad shape, Gretzky rookie cards sell for around $250.   Needless to say, that was not a good trade on my part.   I simply did not recognize what I had and so I traded away something valuable for something with almost no value at all.             With that in mind, notice how the letter to the Galatians starts: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— which...
Post a Comment
Read more

Navigating Life's Transitions: Finding the good when nothing stays the same

Things change. Always. The question isn't "How do we stop that?", but rather, "What are we supposed to learn from it?"  https://youtu.be/ECxnQwRFyXI  
Post a Comment
Read more

Don’t Be a Tourist

                  From the moment that God told Abraham to leave his home and follow him (Genesis 12:1-3), God’s people have understood that they are on a journey.                 That being true, the essential question becomes, “How are you making that journey?”   T here are two options: You can be a tourist or you can be a pilgrim.                   Tourists leave their real life behind for a little while so that they can visit another place.   Generally, they travel in groups and do not mix much with the local people.   They hit the highlights of various regions, but they do not really experience what it is like to live in that part of t...
Post a Comment
Read more