Even the world knows that comparing children to each other doesn't help them.
It promotes competition between male and female, western and not western, calvinist and not calvinist, baby and mature, "fully sanctified" and half sanctified etc. Christians.
I don't think God does that. Why should we?
Job 1:6-8 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, "From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job, ”¢”¢”¢that there is none like him on the earth”¢”¢”¢, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
Good and important point Zsuzsanna .
I was thinking about this a lot recently when i read the posts and the following Scriptures came to my mind:
5What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role. 6I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.…(1 Corinthians 3:6)
It is not about who is "better" or more important. We should all be "servants of the Most High God." (Acts 16:17)
Philippians 2:3King James Version (KJV)
3 Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.
TMK you have a point, but is God constantly telling to certain Christians that they are not good enough, because others are better.
The article shows well how useless it is to compare someone to a reference (because it could be lower or higher than us).
Our reference should be Jesus. Now we are (western or eastern) all lower.
Only God is qualified to do any comparing because only he can do it without hurting and wounding.
Scripture is full of examples of the type of person God prefers and those he does not prefer.
We should never do any such thing because we will muck it up every time.
Corinthians 10:12New American Standard Bible (NASB)
12 For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with [a]some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.
Thought this verse might apply to the discussion.
TMK, well said.
Blain,
I try to understand this verse:
Those who commend themselves: these are the proud
Paul doesn't want to compare himself to these he probably "esteem these as better" He simply doesn't make comparison.
"but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding."
I think this means that they don't want to compare themselves to God's word. If they would they would be lowly and not commending themselves.
Jesus is our standard. We are not to compare ourselves to men to see how we are doing or check on them. We end up settling for a lesser standard than Jesus. We are to look into the "perfect law of liberty", and align our heart with Jesus and His Word.
Agreed dear sister.
Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Hebrews 12:2). It is the life of Jesus that dwells in us, not someone else's. We are to be true to that life no matter what men do or say. Following anyone other than Jesus can open us up to huge disappointments in life. Many have fallen because their idol fell. Jesus will never fall and never fail you.
Once you begin to love the praise of other men, you cease to be a true servant of God.
One of the big reasons we compare our lives with others is to get approval. This becomes a big obstacle in walking with Jesus. This will allow others to control and influence you instead of the Holy Spirit because you are no longer seeking approval from the Lord but rather the approval of man.
If you have always wanted to be a puppet and let people pull your strings, then seek man's approval.
But if you want to gain inner freedom give up seeking positive approval or doing things that keep you from negative (dis)approval then seek only the approval of the Lord.
When you give up the need for both the positive and the negative you find that you no longer crave positive cheers and approval from people and you will also no longer have fears of not getting that approval either.
Paul would not have been as effective as he was if he "compared himself with others" or "measured himself with others".
Each person in the world spends his entire life living for himself and comparing himself with others: "they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Cor.10:12).
Milton Green
The Pure Heart - page 3
https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/myvideo/viewcat.php?cid=15
By the way, if you have never heard Milt's Green "The Pure Heart", I highly recommend it.
Also, "How to Walk the Gospel Out", page 1 of the above link
and
"In the Word" seminar, page 2 of the link.
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