Hidden Dangers by Kim Beckham

Author:Kim Beckham
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Leafwood Publishers
Published: 2015-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

What are some cures for the comparison parasite? The first cure is to accept the value that God, your Creator, has placed in you. All of us are beautiful in our own way. We need to remember that each one of us has been specially designed by God to be unique. We must refuse to let comparison attack our self-esteem. It simply doesn’t matter how we compare up against others because each human is a treasured creation of God. “God created each of us, and God don’t make junk.” He simply doesn’t.

Second, refuse to grade yourself by other people’s standards, and don’t let other people grade you either. Never let people tell you that you should do this or you should do that. I don’t mean you shouldn’t listen to those who challenge your academic grades—and we all have to obey the laws of society. But when someone starts comparing you with someone else, you must reject their assessments. Never tell yourself that you should be this tall, or that weight, or this fast, or that strong, based on someone else’s opinion. Also, refuse to wallow in false pride based on an unfair comparison with others. Remember, just because you can beat a little boy in arm wrestling doesn’t mean you are strong.

Third, learn to cherish the good characteristics found in your friends or mate and do not focus on what is lacking. I have seen couples make this mistake. One or both spouses will focus on a particular trait they don’t like in their partner. Remember: everyone has flaws. We can focus on the flaws in our mate, or we can look for the good in them.

There’s a great story in the Bible about the first time the followers of Christ were called Christians. It happened in the city of Antioch. After Christ’s resurrection, the church exploded in numerical growth. The believers stayed in the city of Jerusalem to start with, and then persecution from the Jewish leaders drove them out. Some of the believers went down to Antioch in Syria, and they began to preach the gospel to whoever would listen. It wasn’t long until many of the Greek nationals began to follow Christ. Upon hearing about this movement of God, the church in Jerusalem decided to send several church leaders to check out what was happening. So these orthodox Jews traveled to witness what was going on in Antioch. One of these men was called Barnabas. The Bible says that he was also nicknamed the Son of Encouragement.

When Barnabas went to visit these new Greek followers of Christ in Antioch, he could easily have found a lot of things wrong with how they worshipped Christ. If you compare ancient Greek culture to that of the ancient orthodox Jews, there were many differences. To the Jews in Jerusalem, these Greeks would have appeared to have many flaws. They were brand-new followers of Christ, and Barnabas could have focused on the minor flaws in their worship and lifestyles and judged them harshly.

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