Meet The New YouSample

Get Out of the Trap

I watched as her eyes darted around the room, taking it all in. She began to fidget in her seat, and I sensed it was more about settling into her own skin. I’m sure she was wondering about things common to most teens and adults alike:

I wonder what they’ll think of me.

I’m sure she has more friends, maybe even more than one best friend.

She probably can eat anything she wants and still look like that.

Subconsciously, she was assessing her worth against an invisible measuring stick. Her value was couched between what she perceived in herself compared to what she saw in others when really she should have been focusing on what God had to say about her. Of course, she’s not the only one guilty of falling into the comparison trap. Don’t you and I do it all the time?

Let’s take a Sunday morning, for example. You might start off feeling okay about how you look, right before you head out the door for church. As you file into your pew, you notice a dearly loved friend across the aisle. She looks fabulous, as always. What happens if they fall prey to their flesh? What happens when they stumble and sin?

Suddenly your “okay” becomes not so great until you turn around to shake hands with the woman behind you, who happens to be having a downright awful day. Her baby just spit up all over her already inside-out shirt and her toddler is pulling her skirt halfway around her waist. Now your “not so great” becomes pretty good, as you’ve fallen into the comparison trap once again.

We fall into this trap on every issue, from health to wealth, fitness to fashion, education to athletic performance, and relationships to roles we fill. Rather than simply embracing who we are, how God made us, and where He wants to use us, we’re busy wondering if what they have is better. It’s really an insult to our Designer God, isn’t it? So what would it look like to stop comparing and start living well in the skin we’re in?

Trap and Transform

1. What type of comparison trap do you most often fall into?

2. What can you do to avoid that trap in the future?

3. How can you begin to embrace the way God made you and the life He gave you?