Comparison

Let the comparing begin!  Now that I'm pregnant a second time I'm already comparing the two pregnancies, "I didn't have this with Eli ... I had this with Eli ... etc."  Last week a woman at church told me, "Now that you're going to have two kids you can't compare them with each other."  I nodded, "yes," and said with a smile, "I know."  Pretty sure that's like parenting lesson #1.  But I accept most church lady tips with a smile and nod.

Fast forward a couple of days and I'm sitting in the waiting room (for an hour) at a dentist's office and wondering why all these other people are going back while I'm still sitting here!  Again, I'm comparing my situation to theirs.  Don't they know my son is with a sitter.  Don't they know this waiting room is freezing.  Don't they know I made an appointment for 1:30 not 2:30.  And on and on.

I believe it is in our sinful nature to compare.  However, I came across a series on a blog I read regularly and it referred to comparison as such a dirty word--envy.  Ouch.  Seriously, comparing myself to that other lady can't be envy...I'm just comparing myself to her.  Honey, that is pretty much the exact definition of envy!  In the series they talk about the story of Peter comparing himself to John (John 21:20-21) and basically the response Jesus gives Peter is, "what business is it of yours?"  Trust me, that is a hard pill to swallow.  But there is light at the end of your envy filled tunnel:  No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.  Psalm 84:11b

How do you walk uprightly?  Well, our good buddy Peter answers that question in 1 Peter 2:1, "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy, and all slander."  Just put it away...just like your shove all that nasty food down your garbage disposal shove your envy in there too.

We can't envy and obey at the same time.