The Poison of "-er"

While folding laundry the other day I overheard a portion of a talk show. I do not know the topic of the day, but I was struck by a young woman being interviewed. She was not famous, had not written a book, nor do I know her name. However, her insight slapped me upside the head and has had me pondering it over the last couple of weeks.

She shared that she had struggled with her weight her entire life. She said that one day it occurred to her that when she had successfully rid herself of the extra weight it was motivated by comparison - trying to be thinner or prettier than some else. Once she realized this and embraced the folly of it, she has not struggled with her weight since. The last sentence she spoke was the most poignant, "I realized that I don't have to be "er" than anyone else." Prettier, smarter, thinner, faster, better, richer... The poison of comparison holds us all at times.

Later that same day I sat in a mid-week church service and heard my pastor teach on the book of Galatians. Specifically, Gal 1:15 Paul mentions that from birth God had called him, even before Paul chose to serve God. It was if Heaven opened just then and God leaned down and gave me that father wink, "Did you get that honey, it was for you."

GOD CALLED ME to do certain things with my strengths and weaknesses. What the person next to me has or does is irrelevant because GOD CALLED ME from birth to be a wife, mom, cheerleading coach, Sunday School teacher and friend. Who I am must be different because I have a specific purpose. I need to excel in the areas that help me to accomplish my calling and not my husband's, sister's or friends. I don't need to be as thin as her or as smart as him or as patient as her or as -er to anybody. I just need to run my own race, right?

WOO HOO! What freedom there is in that. Comparison trips up the young women in our country. Eating disorders, cutting, suicide, drugs, etc. all motivated because we wish we were more like "her". BUT GOD, "who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace" Gal 1:15b, has ordained a purpose for you that has nothing to do with "her". Meditate on that and make yourself believe it!