Look to your left. Now look to your right. Isn't that what we do anyway?
Who has the better house? Who has the better car? Who has the more well behaved kids? Who has more money? Who has the better life? We scroll through FaceBook and Instagram and Twitter like our lives depend on it. We rush to find the newest trends and to post our recent purchase, to tweet about our awesome lunch we just had with the best people in the world, to tell the world that - we promise - we are always having the time of our lives.
I'm guilty of it too. And sometimes I wonder who I'm trying to convince...and no, I'm not saying that posting a picture of good coffee with great fiends is a sin. In fact, go for it! But be careful. Be honest with yourself while you're waiting for it to finish uploading, that this is only a fraction of your life. Nobody's entire life looks like a photo collage of coffee dates, engagements, babies, and birthdays. You've probably heard it at least 1,000 times now - social media only displays our life highlights: the parts we want others to see. But even still, it contributes to this culture of today - a culture of comparison.
Comparison is a thief of joy. It robs of true identity. It tells us that we're not good enough and we never will be.
By definition, comparison is the act or instance of estimating, measuring, or noting, the similarity or dissimilarity between. One of the synonyms given is "differentiate." Now, if you've read my last blog post, you know that I'm a fan of relationships and a in love with community. Maybe it's just me, but I feel like differentiation is not the way to go about building a community. It actually sounds pretty ineffective to me.
This culture of comparison isn't something that just sprung up overnight or with the dawn of social media. No, it's most definitely been around since the fall of man. Ever heard of Cain and Abel? Social media has helped to enhance it in the sense that we are now more aware of what people are doing almost every second of their lives, but it wasn't the cause for comparison.
What makes me curious is what it is inside of us that drives us to compare ourselves to one another and what we see around us. Is it the drive we have to fit in - to be like everyone else and not stand out? Is it far of somehow falling behind? Is it being afraid that we don't measure up? Because if that's the case, then let me go ahead and put this out there: we're all different. We've been uniquely, beautifully, and wonderfully made to be different. In Psalm 139:13-14 David proclaims, "For you created my inmost being; / you knit me together in my mother's womb. / I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; / your works are wonderful, / I know that full well." His works are wonderful and flawless, and you are His handiwork.
We've been designed to be ourselves and no one else. And when we start to compare our lives to the lives of those around us, we start missing out on life. We're not living fully any more.
Megan
