The Comparison Game

Every day, I run across the same busy bridge without sidewalks. Once, as I saw a car coming, I scooted to the guardrail, expecting they would slide toward the center lane. Nope. They stayed fully in their lane, flew past me, and nearly clipped off my arm! I whipped around shouting angrily. They didn’t hear me (a good thing).

Why hadn’t they moved over? I thought angrily. It’s not that difficult to see a runner coming straight toward you. Where’s the common courtesy? I always accommodate a runner on the road!

Where do I start with everything wrong in that scenario? I jumped completely out of Christ’s standard of love and grace by lashing out in anger and became self-righteous, thinking I was better than the driver. Do we see what’s wrong with the I’m-better-than-you game? We should never compare ourselves to others. We will always find someone “worse,” clouding our understanding of sin, thinking our sins are less significant than others’ sins. But, if we commit one sin, we fall short of God’s standards.

There is one exception. One comparison we must make is to Jesus. Only when we allow Him to set the bar, are we able to see that we all fall short of His holiness. It doesn’t matter how far we fall, according to God’s law, all sin must be atoned for and carries the penalty of death.

Once we quit trying to justify ourselves, we can see the redemption offered through Christ. The next time we are tempted to play the comparison game; we need to focus on our need for a Savior. Maybe we’ll remember the grace we’ve been given and offer the same to others.