The one comparison that matters

Most of us are very good at making comparisons. We tend to compare ourselves with others on the basis of personality traits and human achievements, for example; but this can bring mixed results. 

If, on the one hand, we hold someone in high esteem for their consistent integrity and selfless caring for others, that can be a good thing, if it motivates us to strive to better ourselves, and even to learn how these laudable qualities are innate to us. On the other hand, if we allow ourselves to feel inferior because of another’s sterling character, that is not a good thing. Worst of all, if we see another as beneath us, that is not good at all—either for us or for them—because it hides and denies what God is and how God is expressed.

But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t make comparisons. It simply means we need to turn to something higher than human personalities on which to make them. And the life of Christ Jesus is a good example of where to turn.