Impact - Day 5

Day 5 – The Problem of Comparison

Galatians 6:4
Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.

Joshua learned and grew from many years of assisting Moses. He had a close-up view of leading this challenging group of people. However, serving that closely created the potential for a dangerous problem: comparison.

There are some marked similarities between these back-to-back leaders. They will hold the same position and lead this swarm of people across a dried-up body of water (Moses: the Red Sea; Joshua: the Jordan River). Both led the people through battles, searched for provisions, spoke directly with God, and had the ultimate goal of entering the promised land. 

Beyond the similarities, the Children of Israel will continually rehearse the exploits of Moses in Joshua’s hearing at the inception of his leadership and for years to come. Moses will be seen as the hero of the Exodus for generations and millennia. How hard it must have been to resist muttering how he would have done things differently at the waters of Meribah Kadesh (Numbers 20), where Moses was disqualified from entering Canaan. Was Joshua ever tempted to insert, “Well, at least I got us out of that desert,” into the hallowed remembrances of his predecessor?

There is no record that the crippling problem of comparison plagued Joshua. But it was available to him as it is to us today. It crops up in board rooms, families, and the community of faith. And its impact is severe.

Comparison distorts our view of others and ourselves. For some, we use this tool to become arrogant while elevating and isolating ourselves. Others use comparison to put themselves down, become paralyzed, and excuse themselves from God’s calling. Either way, God’s intentions are thwarted. Comparison often robs us of gratitude, invites us down trivial rabbit holes, turns teammates into enemies, and sidetracks us from tasks we are meant to accomplish. As Galatians 6:4-5 says, “Each one should test his own actions.… without comparing [yourselves] to somebody else, for each one should carry his own load.”

There will always be opportunities to compare. There were for Joshua. There will be for you. Let’s not allow distracting comparisons to disrupt the impact God invites us to make. 

1. Does comparison typically cause you to think too much of yourself or too little? Why do you think that is?
2. Who do you most easily compare yourself to? What is often the result?
3. What God-given task has comparison distracted you from? What should you do about that?