I'm a Big Toe, You're a Smile...and I'm Okay With That (Or: Not Playing The Comparison Game)

If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? 1 Corinthians 12:17-19

Never has it been so easy to believe we are not enough. We are inundated with pictures of people who look like they have it all together. With status updates that tell us how deep their impact is, how high their success, how amazing their reach. We see their highlights and wonder why ours don’t compare.

Why we don’t compare.

Why are we a big toe when they get to be the perfect smile?

But did you know the body can’t balance without that big toe? It might be covered most of the time. It might not see daylight but for a few flip-flop wearing days out of the year, but it is a vital part of the body.

Or maybe our comparison isn’t about how different we are, but how similar—only they do it better. Ladies, we are so good at this one. We feel so useless or worthless when we see another person doing what we do only…better. If they find success in that one arena we thought was ours, then are we even needed? (Moms, writers, ladies ministry…add yours because most of us have one.)

Except it’s not always better, it’s just different. And that’s because God doesn’t want the body all looking the same. He created us unique. He made us with a time and a place and a territory to claim. If we all had the same hurts or the same victories, how could we ever speak to all the people out there looking for God?

We will never win when we play the comparison game. And the cost of the loss is step; we miss the very reason God created us. We miss our worth. And the world misses the impact we were meant to be.

Lord today help me to stop looking at what I am not and start seeing who you created me to be. Help me to see not only my value, but how to reach the areas you created me to reach. Give me Godly confidence, that I no longer play the comparison game. Instead of seeing what I think I lack, allow me to see all the unique talents you’ve given me and how to use them. Amen.