The Most Dangerous Game: Comparison

The Most Dangerous Game: Comparison
     There is a famous story by Richard Connell, published back in 1924. It's about a hunter who fills an island with prey to hunt...only his quarry isn't animals. It's humans. Killing other people, Connell's story says, is the most dangerous game.
    But is it really? Sure, Connell’s most dangerous game can destroy our physical bodies, but there are even more dangerous games that can destroy our souls and our relationship with Jesus.
     The five I’ll focus on in this devotional series are: comparison, conceit, complacency, compromise, and conformity.

Day 1: Comparison
     All my life, I’ve struggled with the dangerous game of comparison. For me, it mostly manifests itself in that I never think I’m good enough: look at what so-and-so can do, or how talented they are. They’re much better than me. They’re smarter than me. They’re prettier than me. They’re more unique than me. I’m just a fraud. There’s also the comparison that looks at others and thinks: I’m so much better than them. I’m a better Christian than them. I’m smarter than them. I’m prettier than them. I’m so unique.
     Neither of these is a good attitude to have, and neither is “preferable” to the other. Always believing everyone is better than you is no less destructive than always believing you’re better than everyone else. Why?
     Because when you play this dangerous game, you start to devalue the worth of God’s creation. 
     I once heard a wonderful example of comparison, though where I heard it escapes me now. But the gist of it was this: when we use comparisons, we are putting people either up on a pedestal above us, or shoving them on a pedestal below us. We allot them either too much power and value (thinking they’re better than us), or we allot them too little power and value (think we’re better than them). It is a decision to think and behave as if they are worth more (or less) as a human being than we are. But how wrong we are to have this attitude!
     We do not get to decide our worth or anyone else’s. God gave each person a worth from the moment He created them. Psalm 139:13 tells us that God has knitted us together, and therefore, we have an intrinsic worth that cannot change. God tells us that we are worth more to the sparrows to Him (Matthew 10:29-31), so why should we not believe Him?
     A person’s intelligence, a person’s actions, a person’s behavior or clothes or station or possessions—none of this determines his or her worth. When we fall into the trap of comparison, we’re saying that it does. We’re saying that a person is only worth as much as they can accomplish in life, in as smart as they are, or by the brand of clothes they wear.
     So we can win this dangerous game by telling ourselves: our worth is not determined by anything but God, and we are all equal in His eyes.
     When you start to play this dangerous game, you also lose your joy.
     I’ll be honest: there is nothing more miserable than walking around, wondering why everyone else on earth is better than you. Why they have a better house than you, why they have a significant other when you don’t, why they have kids or a car or...etc. etc. etc.
     It doesn’t have to be material possessions, either. Sometimes, I can start to compare the faith of others to my own. “Wow, they have such faith. They’re a much better person than I am...I bet God loves them more. I bet they please God more. They’re so talented, so they can do way more to further the Kingdom of God. I’m never going to do anything worthwhile.”
     These are joy-sucking thoughts. Comparison is so dangerous because it is a gateway to so many other sins: pride, jealousy, wrath. It can even lead to depression if we let our negative headspace spiral far enough. When we start to focus on everything that we don’t have, or everything that someone else does better, then we lose focus on what we can do.
     Paul gives a wonderful example of this in 1 Corinthians 12:15-26. In this oft-quoted section, we see Paul tell the church that not one part of the body is more useful than another part. We can’t say the hand is better than an eye, or a foot, or a nose. They all have unique parts, and they are all made to do what they were intended to do. So Gina who can sing isn’t any better than Bob who can teach, and Judy who is a fierce prayer warrior isn’t any better than Tom who serves others with such joy. We can’t rank these gifts. We can’t compare our gifts to them. Instead, we must be thankful that God has given us each our gift—and, yes, He has given you one, too. You just have to stop listening to the joy-sucking deceiver of comparison and start praying for God to open your eyes to what your gift is.
     Trust me—actually, trust Him when He says that it is beautiful, it is wonderful, and He is waiting to reveal it to you. You just need to shake off the devil of comparison to be able to see your worth, understand your value and Spiritual gifts, and embrace contentment with who God made you and what God gave you.
     How to win this dangerous game: replace comparison with contentment.

Bible verses:
(Psalm 139:13)
(Matthew 10:29-31)
(1 Corinthians 12:15-26)
(Philippians 4:11-13)
(Proverbs 14:30)