Happiness even more so than success, should be what all of us want to achieve. There are many things that contribute to happiness and there’s certainly at least one thing that takes it away from us and that is envy. This is an awesome Bible verse that deals with the topic: “Each one should test their own actions then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else. “ (Galatians 6:4 NIV).
Someone once said that comparing ourselves to others is the root of all envy so if we can get rid of comparing ourselves to others we can get rid of envy in our lives. Easier said than done because the fact is most of us do it all the time. We compare all kinds of things like how much money we have, how much we weigh, our jobs, how talented we are, how big of a house we have, how nice of a car, etc. The list goes on and on.
I think we’d all agree that envy is an ugly human characteristic and the fact is every time we compare ourselves to other people we end up falling guilty to either envy or pride. We’ll always find people who are doing better or worse than us in life. We can look down on others in a prideful way or we can look at those who are perceived better off and feel envious. Pride or envy is always the result of comparing and God says it’s not wise. We shouldn’t do it because we are unique. We came into this world unique and the environment we grew up in based on all the different people in it makes us unique as well. With this in mind how can we legitimately compare ourselves to someone else?
The Bible verse above says to do your very best. We were all given various circumstances in life and we’re to do the best we can with what we’ve been given. Surely it makes sense that if someone grew up in a wealthy family and had all the various privileges that often go with it he or she would have a leg up on life’s journey when it comes to success not necessarily happiness but the attainment of wealth sure is much easier. Plenty of young people have squandered these advantages but they were there. Most of us didn’t grow up this way. Why should we compare where we are in life to someone who grew up with all the advantages?
I read the following somewhere and loved it: “When you get to Heaven, God is not going to say, “Why weren’t you more like this person or that person?” No! He’s going to ask, “Why weren’t you more like you?” You can’t focus on your purpose while you’re focusing on other people.”
When we get to Heaven we’re not going to be judged on talent we didn’t have. We’re not going to be judged on opportunities we weren’t given. We are going to be judged on how we lived and what we did with what we were given.
There’s no need to compare ourselves to others. God has called us to be the best person we can be based on our backgrounds, experiences, and talents that he has given us. Like I wrote in the beginning, all of us want happiness and there’s a lot to it but one thing is for sure, we won’t experience it if we live a life of envy.
Someone once said that comparing ourselves to others is the root of all envy so if we can get rid of comparing ourselves to others we can get rid of envy in our lives. Easier said than done because the fact is most of us do it all the time. We compare all kinds of things like how much money we have, how much we weigh, our jobs, how talented we are, how big of a house we have, how nice of a car, etc. The list goes on and on.
I think we’d all agree that envy is an ugly human characteristic and the fact is every time we compare ourselves to other people we end up falling guilty to either envy or pride. We’ll always find people who are doing better or worse than us in life. We can look down on others in a prideful way or we can look at those who are perceived better off and feel envious. Pride or envy is always the result of comparing and God says it’s not wise. We shouldn’t do it because we are unique. We came into this world unique and the environment we grew up in based on all the different people in it makes us unique as well. With this in mind how can we legitimately compare ourselves to someone else?
The Bible verse above says to do your very best. We were all given various circumstances in life and we’re to do the best we can with what we’ve been given. Surely it makes sense that if someone grew up in a wealthy family and had all the various privileges that often go with it he or she would have a leg up on life’s journey when it comes to success not necessarily happiness but the attainment of wealth sure is much easier. Plenty of young people have squandered these advantages but they were there. Most of us didn’t grow up this way. Why should we compare where we are in life to someone who grew up with all the advantages?
I read the following somewhere and loved it: “When you get to Heaven, God is not going to say, “Why weren’t you more like this person or that person?” No! He’s going to ask, “Why weren’t you more like you?” You can’t focus on your purpose while you’re focusing on other people.”
When we get to Heaven we’re not going to be judged on talent we didn’t have. We’re not going to be judged on opportunities we weren’t given. We are going to be judged on how we lived and what we did with what we were given.
There’s no need to compare ourselves to others. God has called us to be the best person we can be based on our backgrounds, experiences, and talents that he has given us. Like I wrote in the beginning, all of us want happiness and there’s a lot to it but one thing is for sure, we won’t experience it if we live a life of envy.
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