Comparison Trap

​The temptation to compare is as near as your next chat with a friend, trip to the store, or check-in on social media. It's never-ending and exhausting. And whether you come out on top or come up lacking, there is simply no win in comparison. It's a trap. 
 
I remember when I began my career and started having kids, I was always looking to the right and left of me comparing myself to the people around me. I was always asking myself do I measure up? I would look at what others had and looking at their children. I pushed my kids to meet their full potential as they were growing up because I was looking to my left and right. As I got older I started to ask the question, was I pushing my kids to meet their full potential or was I pushing them to meet a standard that I had set? I was comparing myself to other parents and comparing my kids to other kids. By doing this, I drove my kids crazy. I know this now because since they are older, they told me they felt like they were not meeting my standard. And they were right because the standard I had was mine not theirs. We even do this with ourselves? We start trying to live up to someone else because we compare ourselves to them. When we do this, we drive our self-crazy and then we miss out of the true things around us. I think about all the things I truly missed out on with my kids because I was pushing them to meet a standard that was not theirs. And most important what did they miss out on because trying to live up to it?  There is no “WIN IN COMPARSION.”
 
Let’s look at Ecclesiastes 4: 4-8 “4 And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind.
5 Fools fold their hands and ruin themselves.  6 Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind 7 Again I saw something meaningless under the sun: 8 There was a man all alone; he had neither son nor brother. There was no end to his toil, yet his eyes were not content with his wealth. “For whom am I toiling,” he asked, “and why am I depriving myself of enjoyment?” This too is meaningless—a miserable business!  
 
Let’s break these verses down.  It you look at verse 4 when we are looking at others and chasing them and comparing our self to them it like chasing the wind. Ask yourself can you catch the wind? Of course, you can’t and by trying you will drive yourself crazy and miss out on so many things. Verse 5-6 states you fold your hands. So, think about this when you grab something with both hands so hard there is no way for your hands to be filed with something else because your hold is on something you want. I not saying chasing a dream is wrong but leave on hand open, so you don’t miss out on something you don’t see. Verse 7-8 shows a man who is miserable and is not content with anything. When we live a life with no contentment we chase things we think will make us content. We chase Jobs, cars, and jump from marriage to marriage. If you dealing this ask yourself why can’t I enjoy what I have? 
 
We will all deal with this every day. It’s a daily struggle because of the world we live in. So, lay this struggle at the feet of Christ each day and keep your hands open so He can fill them for his Glory not our own.