I haven't heard the phrase in a while, "Keeping up with the Jones," but the race to stay up with or surpass others is still on. So many Americans stay in debt spending money they don't have on things they don't need to impress people they don't know.
We have a tendency to look around at what others have or get to do and that little green monster of jealousy pokes out his head and demands we kick it into high gear in an attempt to catch up and surpass if at all possible.
If we can't keep up on one level, we often shift gears and seek to elevate ourselves on another by imagining that while they have more than us, they are not truly better off than us. They have a bigger house but they are mortgage poor. He has a better paying job but he's never at home, always working. She has more education but lacks the common sense I have in abundance.
And, if we can't quite pull off tearing someone down to make us feel better about ourselves, we just enlarge our viewing area and find others who are poorer, less educated, not as cultured, whatever. Dare to Compare is a game humans love to play even though it is a fool's errond.
Paul warns "We do not dare to classify of compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise" (2 Cor 10:12). When we, as humans, compare ourselves using the standards of humans, we are fools because it is God's standard, not ours that matters.
And God clearly warns, "All of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because 'God opposes the proud bu shows favor to the humble'" (1 Pet 5:5b). And Jesus tells us, "The greatest among you will be your servant" (Matt 23:11). In other words, God's standard is opposite of ours.
The bottom line is that God wants no comparison among his children. Instead, he desires compassion, concern and cooperation. The greatest command is to love God and the second is to love other as yourself (see Matt 22:36-40). Jus' Sayn.
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