Comparison

With facebook, Pinterest and the millions of bloggers who share their lives with the world it is so easy to start feeling a little less adequate about yourself.  It’s easy to start feeling like you’re not worth much.  There are unrealistically beautiful women on TV throwing their perfect bodies and lives in our faces.  There are mothers up and down my street who are amazing cooks, whose houses are always clean and whose children are perfect.  There are so many ways in which we can compare ourselves.  So many women who are “better” than us at just about everything.

So just a few thoughts.  Are we comparing our weaknesses to others’ strengths?  Are we willing to sacrifice for what we want?  Silly example, I will never have Carrie Underwoods legs.  It’s just not gonna happen.  I’m not willing to sacrifice the way she does for them.  I’m not willing to be a vegetarian, I’m not willing to give up getting ice cream cones with my family.  I’m not willing to spend hours in the kitchen and hours at the gym away from what’s important to me.  My family.  So could I have Carrie Underwoods legs?  Yeah, I most likely could.  Do I want them?  Sure.  Do I want them more than being a good mother or wife?  No.  So it’s not fair for me to compare my legs to hers.  I don’t deserve her legs, I haven’t done the work to get them.  I told you- silly example!   I just read her workout routine so it’s fresh in my mind!!
We have each been given a set of skills from our Father in Heaven.  He has blessed us with unique personalities and abilities.  I have been blessed with this unnaturally positive attitude.  It’s just been there my whole life.  I know what I am good at.  I also know what I’m not good at.  I’m not good at service.  I’m naturally a selfish person and it’s something I have to work on every day.  The important thing is that we recognize what we might need to work on and try to improve ourselves.  It’s not about comparing ourselves to the neighbor, or the perfect women on TV.  That’s exactly what Satan wants us to do.  He wants us to feel inadequate.  He wants us to feel like we don’t matter.
But he’s wrong.
We do matter.  Theodore Roosevelt was inspired when he said, “Comparison is the thief of joy“.  It doesn’t do anything more than make us feel like we don’t matter.  So let’s stop comparing ourselves and start bettering ourselves.

Abby Smith

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18 thoughts on “Comparison

  1. Thanks so much for this post. I constantly have to remind myself to stop comparing……..doesn’t always work though!! Seriously, we see all that “everyone” else does and belittle ourselves. yet when we really thing about it, we remember that all of the things we saw were on separate blogs and not one person can do all of it!
    https://lexmallabooks.com/

  2. Thank you for the post today Abby! I think it is so easy for us to compare ourselves to others and in turn it just makes us all feel worse about things…Sometimes we just need to be reminded that we are not the only ones out there thinking like that….

    Have a wonderful day!

  3. Abby, thanks so much for this reminder! I have a jar I made recently filled with Scripture verses about what my Creator says about me! When I am feeling inadequate I just take out one of them and fight the lies with God’s Truth – the only Truth 🙂

  4. It sounds like you also saw the article about teens posting videos on Youtube where they ask “Am I Ugly/Pretty” and leave it open for nationwide comment.

    My older sister shared a bit of wisdom with me along the lines of: it’s much easier for people to love you, if you love yourself first.

  5. Thank you for posting this. It’s just what I needed to hear. I’ve been feeling very inadequate and that’s not what Heavenly Father wants his children to feel. It’s time to step up and move forward. =)

  6. AMEN, Sist’a! Comparison is like poison. And I totally agree with the Carrie Underwood thing, actually…I think it was the PERFECT example! You are AWESOME, just the way you are! 🙂

  7. Great post! It is so hard not to compare ourselves to what others (society) views as “perfect”. I have freckles on my face, my daughter has curly hair, somedays I am not a ‘super’ mom, icecream is my weakness, but we are ALL made special. We are not meant to look alike or cookie cutter.

    This is something we have to teach our children at an early age, to not compare themselves to others. They are so influential at a young age! It is important for them to know that they are incredibly special exactly the way they are because our Heavenly Father made them that way.

  8. Wow, I feel like I could’ve written this post (even the part about Carrie Underwood’s legs!). I definitely have a problem with comparing myself and my life to others to the point where I begin to dislike everything about me. But God made us all different for a reason. If we were all the same, the world would be a lot more boring! 🙂

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