Steve and I have been trying to stay up later at night because of his new nightly school schedule. As a result, I haven’t been waking up to do my early morning Bible study. But this morning I woke up at 6:00am and I couldn’t get back to sleep. My heart was just telling me to go downstairs and do my study even though my brain was thinking I should wake up and start tackling my editing and email inbox. Thankfully, I listened to my heart as I opened the Bible to 2 Corinthians 10:12-13 and read this verse, “We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the field God has assigned to us, a field that reaches even to you.”
Please bear with me as I muddle through my thoughts on this verse as it applies to my life.
Paul wrote this in his letter because he was criticizing the false teachers of his time who were comparing themselves to others rather than comparing themselves to God’s standards for them. Of course the first word I picked up on is that word “compare.” I started thinking about how comparison looks in my life and it is actually opposite of this verse, but still foolish nonetheless and here is why. It gets me nowhere and does nothing for God’s kingdom. Comparison in my life is putting everyone else’s value above mine: This person is better than me because they have more business. This person is happier than me and I want that happiness. This person never has to worry about financial security. This person is more self-confident than me. And on and on…Friends, I know we all struggle with this to some extent, but what does that do?!? Absolutely nothing. In this example, the comparison game is equally foolish because it takes me out of the ability to compare what I am doing in my life by the Lord’s standards for my life. So lets say, hypothetically speaking, I arrive at everything I want in life. I get There. Wherever There is. Do you think the comparison will stop? Maybe, but most likely not. What will more likely be the case is that I will start comparing myself in the opposite respect; saying I am better than this person because of XYZ and I have more than this person. Either way, comparison is not good when we are measuring ourselves to another imperfect person. Our comparison scope needs to be narrowed to that life with which God has assigned us to. We need to figure out how our lives measure up to what God wants from us. And friends, I can promise you, that whenever you do this, you find so much freedom in your daily life. You no longer worry about the way the world thinks of you because that is not your goal. You are on God’s mission for you.
And God has a mission for everyone – even the weak. No, especially the weak.
“But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12: 9-10).
You see? God tells us that His grace is sufficient. Meaning,the grace He has gifted us is enough to meet our needs to fulfill God’s calling in our lives. Therefore, instead of struggling with your weaknesses, delight in them, knowing that Jesus is with you and will make you stronger in those weaknesses!
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I thought I would share this as a little encouragement that despite how crazy, weak, or meaningless our lives feel sometimes, it’s only because we are measuring ourselves by the world’s standards. If we focus on Jesus and rely on His sufficient grace, we can stop with the comparisons and have faith that He will provide for our every need.
Warmly,
Stacy
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