But, it's interesting to note that Satan never points out what they don't have, only what they do have that we don't have.
Others may have some things that we don't, but we also have some things that they don't have. We must believe that God equipped each of us with just what we need to fulfill His call on our lives. If I don't have it, I must not need it. Or it just isn't time yet for me to have it.
I spent many unhappy, depressed days comparing myself with other people. Why couldn't I cast my care like Dave? Why couldn't I be sweet, merciful and submissive like my pastor's wife? Why couldn't I sew like my neighbor? Why can't I have a faster working metabolism so I can eat more and not gain weight? Why? Why? Why?
God never answered me except with the same answer that he gave Peter when he compared himself with John. In John 21:18-22 Jesus had told Peter that Peter was going to enter a time of suffering. He was speaking of the kind of death Peter would die and thereby glorify God.
Peter's initial response was to ask what was going to happen to John. Jesus promptly said, "If I want him to stay (survive, live) till I come, what is that to you? [What concern is it of yours?] You follow Me!" (v.22).
It sounds to me as if Jesus was politely telling Peter to mind his own business, not compare himself with John. The Lord has an individual plan for each of us, and often we can't understand what He is doing or why He is doing it.
We look at other people as the standard for what should happen to us, but they cannot be the standard because God sets a new standard with each person. That we all have a different set of fingerprints, is proof enough we are not to compete with one another and live in unfair comparisons.
It is unfair to compare ourselves with others. It is unfair to us, to them and to God. It pressures relationships and says to God, "I want to limit You to this and nothing else." What if God ends up giving you something far greater than anyone you know?
We would be satisfied with what we see other people have, but God can go beyond that for the person who will trust Him. Galatians 5:26 teaches us not to be "envying" and "jealous" of one another, "competitive," in that regard.
Proverbs 14:30 says, "...envy, jealousy, and wrath are like rottenness of the bones." Depression feels just like that—"rottenness of the bones." Everything feels as if it has caved in.
Galatians 6:4 tells us to do "something commendable [in itself alone] without [resorting to] boastful comparison with his neighbor."
In other words our goal should be to be "the very best me I can be," to just do what we believe we are supposed to do without seeking to do something "greater than" someone else so we can feel better about ourselves.
When our value as an individual is firmly rooted in Christ, we are free from the agony of comparisons and competition. That kind of freedom releases joy. Depression is the result of looking at what we don't have and can't do.
Joy is the result of being thankful for every little thing we have and counting ourselves blessed just to be alive and to know Jesus as our Lord.
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers