What Hinders Your Purpose?Sample

Unhealthy Competition and Comparison

Isaiah 14:12-15, "You were like the morning star, but you have fallen from the sky. In the past, all the nations on earth bowed down before you, but now you have been cut down. You always told yourself, “I will go to the skies above. I will put my throne above God’s stars. I will sit on Zaphon, the holy mountain where the gods meet. I will go up to the altar above the tops of the clouds. I will be like God Most High.” But that did not happen. You were brought down to the deep pit—Sheol, the place of death."

The devil fell because of pride and an attempt to compete with God. In the same way, nothing hinders our purpose more quickly than competing and comparing ourselves with someone else.

God's expectations of you are only within the confines and boundaries of your gifts, talents, design, and resources. A life that honours God is a life driven by its own unique purpose, not by competition or comparison.

Of the many decisions and choices we all make in life, the choice to be born isn't one of them. God creates and permits your existence. He designed you the way you need to be for the purpose and assignment He had he in mind for you. He chose your personality, family, race, and other crucial aspects of your life. So, to compare yourself with someone else is not only an insult to your Creator but a critical factor that will hinder your purpose.

Isaiah 45:9-10 ERV says, “Look at these people! They are arguing with the one who made them. Look at them argue with me. They are like pieces of clay from a broken pot. Clay does not say to the one molding it, ‘Man, what are you doing?’ Things that are made don’t have the power to question the one who makes them. A father gives life to his children, and they cannot ask, ‘Why are you giving me life?’ They cannot question their mother and ask, ‘Why are you giving birth to me?"

There is a lot about your life that isn't a consequence of your choice or decision, and irrespective of the inadequacies that may punctuate your journey, God's plan and purpose for your life will still stand. When you compare yourself with others, you are looking at them through a distorted lens. The reality is that every form of greatness you admire in others also resides in you, because every good and perfect gift is from above (James 1:17).

The Bible warns us against unhealthy competition. As seen in Galatians 6:4 (NLT), "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."

We don't want to live our life climbing a ladder only to get to the top and realize it was leaning on the wrong wall. Competition endangers your purpose. When you realize your position in the Kingdom of God, you will have no need to compare yourself to others. Ask your Father, "Who do you say that I am?"