Hello!  So I mentioned this week that comparison and competition were as the sin of accusation….     I have been rethinking this and realized that it is even broader than this.   Of course all of this must be backed with scripture otherwise it has little or no value to our walk.

Scripture calls us to brotherly love and service to one another:

Romans 12:9-13 King James Version (KJV)
9 Let love be without dissimulation. Abhor that which is evil; cleave to that which is good.  10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;  ¹¹ Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord;  ¹² Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;  ¹³ Distributing to the necessity of saints; given to hospitality.”

John 13 NLT “³⁴“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I Corinthians 13 NLT “⁴ Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud ⁵ or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. ⁶ It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. ⁷ Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Philippians 2:3-4 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)  “3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.”

And a strong biblical warning against rivalries and contentions:

Galatians 5:19-23 The Passion Translation (TPT) “19 The cravings of the self-life are obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, 20 chasing after things instead of God,[a] manipulating others,[b] hatred of those who get in your way,  senseless arguments, [ESV = rilvaries] [NIV = selfish ambition] resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, 21 being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions,[c] wild parties, and all other similar behavior.  Haven’t I already warned you that those who use their “freedom” for these things[d] will not inherit the kingdom realm of God!”

Competition and comparison are part of the fabric of our culture.  From birth, we are encouraged to compare our children to what is “normal” and to take action if they fall outside of these parameters.  They are supposed to weigh a certain amount by a certain age, make certain sounds etc.   We are systematically trained to compare one another to each other.

God places the highest value on loving one another and Him….  Which in part requires us to obey His Word as obedience is the guaranteed outcome of truly loving God.

John 14:15 CSB “If you love me, you will keep my commands.”

Competition and Comparison put the greatest value on our performance and on where we sit in the pecking order.  They put many snares before our feet.   They encourage us to desire to be above others, instead of agreeing with scripture which tells us to think of others as better than ourselves.   They make it difficult for us to rejoice at the successes of others as now the successes of others carry with them the message to us “you are lesser than that one because his/her performance was better”.  Instead of rejoicing in the fact that we are made to be part of the body and that each part has unique gifts and strengths that are to work together in unity and cooperation.      If we saw the other person as part of our own body, we would rejoice as they rise up and thrive and do well.  Competition and comparison set us up to view our brothers and sisters as rivals.  If you are looking for a shorter answer, this is a great place to stop…  If not read on:)

 

We see this very plainly in the account of Cain and Abel.   Have a read through Genesis 4 to see how it plays out

^“2 And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.  ³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord.  ⁴ And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:  ⁵ But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.  ⁶ And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?  ⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.  ⁸ And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.  ⁹ And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?   ¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.  ¹¹ And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;  ¹² When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.   ¹³ And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.  ¹⁴ Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.  ¹⁵ And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.  ¹⁶ And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.”

Each son brought an offering to God and each offering was considered in light of God’s standard not man’s.   Cain had nothing to gain from killing Abel.  Yet this feeling of comparison, rilvary, jealousy tempted him to take Abel out of the picture which of course in no way would impact God’s willingness to accept his biblically unacceptible offering.   Our audience is God alone.   Our goal is live in a way that is pleasing to Him alone which will by definition be the best way for us to live with others as well.     Competition and comparison compete with and very often change our heart motivation to vain-glory, pride of life and performace and self-idolatry which set us up for having a spirit of rilvary, strife, contention, offense, jealousy and satisfaction of feeling better about ourselves at the cost of another.

A personal story that illustrates this well.  We had a cat when we first got married.   He was a lovely cat who had a marvelous personality.    He was my cat first and I had raised him as a kitten.  God taught me this lesson one day as my husband and I were sitting together in a room and our kitty came in and jumped on my lap, not my hubby’s.  Do you know, I felt this little thrill of satisfaction that I was the cat’s favourite.    And God immediately spoke to my heart.

First, the playing field was never fair and I honestly didn’t do anything special to make me his favourite.    The circumstances favoured me greatly.    Comparison and competition  pit 2 or more parties against one another who are by nature unequally gifted and able.   So competition by default is unjust and unfair because by genetics, by culture, by giftings someone is better positioned to come out ahead.  It positions the “winner” to be tempted to get satisfaction, self-worth, pride, the praises of man etc and accredit themselves for this accomplishment  instead of being focussed on using those gifts and talents puretly for the advancement and service God provided them for.    It positions the “losers” to be tempted to feel inadequate, unworthy, to strive for and be conformed to things that they were simply not made to do or be and to dislike and even hate themselves as a result, and actually accuse God that His Creation (us) are not of great worth (we are because God made us that way) and that we are deficient (we are not because we are made in His image).

Competition and comparison often turn into thiefs that steal our time, energy and resources from our God given purpose to pursue empty, vainglorious human goals instead.    They can steal our ability to delight in our different strengths, roles and assignments from God  and rejoice in the part of the body that God made us and others to be.  Comparision sets us up to covet something we were never made to do or be and steals our joy and peace in being obedient to and faithful in our calling(s).

2nd.   Competition and Comparison serve no purpose in God’s Kingdom because God’s supply is limitless and infinite.     In God’s economy, we can all finish the race (the unique race He has set before us individually) and receive the crown.    The course that God has set before us is unique to us and is perfectly fair and just and in accordance with our gifts and talents.   That is true for each and everyone of us and a unique crown awaits at the end for anyone who finishes regardess of how many that do.

We only had one cat… the supply was limited.   If we had 2 cats, one in each lap, then of course there was no competition for the one cat.    In God’s economy, their are infinite cats, infinite rewards and infinite supply so to each one who obeys, the blessings and promised outcomes will be given.   Competition disappears when each one understands that they will be rewarded purely based on their willingness to obey God and fullfill their purpose and callings that He has placed on their lives.    The miracles of the loaves and fish illustrates this beautifully.  Each one could eat their fill according to their appetites and the supply still exceeded their needs.     This course actually requires and positions them to want to help others, serve others and encourage others to succeed in what they are called to do as the body of Christ only thrives as each one takes up their God given role.   This releases us to feel great joy and satisfaction in seeing others succeed and thrive.   So really the spirit of unity, cooperation and helping one another is what we really need.

Matthew 6:33  “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

“Winning” defined scripturally is living a life in submission, obedience and in faithfulness to God’s Word and call on our lives.

“Losing” is to spend “our” lives on worthless and worldly things that have no eternal value or purpose.  Philippians summed it up this way “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves”

1 Corinthians 6:20-23 BSB “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.”

1 Corinthians 7:22-24 King James Version (KJV)  “22 For he that is called in the Lord, being a servant, is the Lord’s freeman: likewise also he that is called, being free, is Christ’s servant.  23 Ye are bought with a price; be not ye the servants of men.  24 Brethren, let every man, wherein he is called, therein abide with God.”

 

When the Father’s business and kingdom take their rightful place in our hearts and motivations, than our goal becomes simply to be faithful today in investing our lives, time, resources and energy into the work of the Kingdom, while giving HIM all the glory for the fruit and increase these investments bring.  Just as Jesus did, we can learn to set our hearts on only doing what we see the Father doing (John 5:19).

John 4:35-38 English Standard Version (ESV)
35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. 36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. 37 For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ 38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

1 Corinthians 3:6-7 King James Version (KJV) “6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. 7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

1 Corinthians 3:10-15 English Standard Version (ESV) “10 According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled[a] master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. 11 For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw— 13 each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. 14 If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. 15 If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.”

I would round all of this out with saying that our daily routines and lives certainly can be done in a way that has eternal value and represents/reveals the Kingdom of God to others.   If our heart motive is to advance the Kingdom and obey and glorify the Lord according to His Word in all that we do, we have positioned our lives well to hit the mark and produce eternal fruit.

Colossians 3:23-24 King James Version (KJV)
“23 And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;  24 Knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”

1 Corinthians 10:31 King James Version (KJV)
“31 Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”