If you were with us yesterday, you’ll know how comparing ourselves constantly with others means that we miss the opportunity to keep a balanced eye on ourselves. Today, we’re thinking about the other thing that our eyes get distracted from when we’re focused on those around us: Jesus. The Message version of the Bible paraphrases today’s verse to say that comparing ourselves to others makes us ‘miss the point’, and the point is becoming more like Jesus. If we’re too busy looking at others around us to see how we measure up, we’ll never be looking at Him. Instead, we’ll be looking at flawed humans who are (hopefully) also trying to be like Him. Why would we want to hold ourselves up against earthly imitations, when, through grace, we have the chance to have a relationship with Jesus personally? He is the only One that we can healthily fix our eyes on when it comes to learning to live in the best way possible. We know that we’ll never be able to be exactly like Him through our own deeds, so comparison goes out the window. It becomes more about striving to grow in His love, which is exactly the point. So, let’s drop the comparisons so that we can put all of our energy into our own, very personal, journey with God. Let’s focus on what He’s doing in our lives now, without getting caught up in thinking about what that looks like next to what He’s done in the past, or for others. When we can do that, we often find ourselves in a much freer place to jump into His plan for our lives.

What Now?

Find a simple image of a cross, whether that’s a piece of jewellery that you already have, or through a quick search on the internet. Set a timer for 15 minutes, and sit in a quiet place looking at the cross. Think about one way that you’d like to be more like Jesus, and ask Him to help you with that.