The Comparison Game

I just showed this video tonight to a group of wrestlers.  If you've never seen this ESPN video of Ben Comen, a young man with cerebral palsy who runs cross-country, prepare to be inspired http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGeHXP24E0E

The lessons from Ben are too many to count.  One thing that really hit me when I first saw this video was that Ben focuses on what he has, not on what he doesn't have.  He doesn't play the comparison game.  He always ran to beat his own time.  Man, can I ever learn a lesson from Ben about comparing.

We compare our clothes, our iPhones, our plasma TV's, our cars, our houses, and even our talents and abilities...to name a few.  One of the primary principles of sales used by advertisers everyday is to create a need and fill it.  Make us think we need something that we don't have, and tell us how great it will be if we have it.  Oh, yes, I want that double cheeseburger everytime I see it...even when I'm not hungry.

One of the primary reasons we're in this economic crisis in our country is people wanting what they didn't have.  They wanted a bigger house, so they got into a mortgage they couldn't afford.  The housing market went down the tubes because people wanted what they didn't have.  They were comparing.  We all do it.  Maybe not with a house, but we all do it.

There's a word for making a comparison and determining we should have something that's not ours.  It's called coveting.  We don't use that word very often in modern English.  God did, though.

The last commandment of the original Ten given to Moses by God starts with, "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. (Exodus 20:17)"  God's pretty smart.  He knew that coveting could result economic collapses.  The Bible still applies today.

It continues, "You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant..."  A primary reason for the divorce rate we are experiencing is the result of men and women wanting what is not theirs, either in reality or virtually (porn).  God knew the pain that coveting another person would cause.  He wants to spare us that turmoil.  God is a good dad who looks to protect us from the pain of sin.  I don't let my son play in the road because I love him and want the best for him.  It's not that I'm a killjoy.  Neither is God.

The command finishes, "...his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor."  The ox that my neighbor has in his driveway is a sweet F-350 with huge pulling potential.  I want it.  That donkey down the road is a tight ride with low profile wheels and rims.  I should have it.  I don't need to mention the boat, RV, yard, and other things that my neighbor has that I desire.

In the "anything" category is my desire to compare my talents and abilities with others as well.  "If I only had his build."  "If I only had his quickness."  On and on it goes.

The comparison game ends up in the same place everytime--me being dissatisfied with what God has blessed me with.  He has made me in his image with value and worth and has blessed me with talents that will bring him glory, make me joyful, and inspire and help those around me.  When I covet, I essentially tell God that he doesn't know what he's doing, and I will take it into my own hands to get what I want and think I deserve.  What a slap in God's face.

When Jesus came he said, "...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10)"  God in the flesh said he wants us to have abundant life.  That comes by admitting that I covet.  That comes by realizing that my sin separates me from a holy God.  That comes when I ask for and receive forgiveness because of the substitutionary death of Jesus on the cross for my sin.  That comes when I am imparted new life because of the bodily resurrection of Jesus.  That comes when God blesses me with God the Holy Spirit to help me overcome covetousness.  

Jesus is different than any other religion or cult.  Religion says, "Be better.  Do more.  Stop coveting."  All in all, that's bad news and not helpful because I can do it sometimes, but not even most of the time.  I end up frustrated because I just keep comparing myself and wanting what I don't have.

Jesus comes and lives the life that I can't and don't live.  He was perfect.  He never coveted.  Jesus died the death that I deserve for insulting and turning my back on God.  When I receive his death and resurrection for myself, Jesus imparts his righteousness to me.  Before God I am blameless.  That makes me want to try harder because I love him so much.  But, God also puts the Holy Spirit inside of us to enable us to not covet.

"Don't you know that yourselves are God's temple and that God's spirit is in you. (1 Corinthians 3:16)"  God gives us a fighting chance by putting his very spirit inside of us to help us when we receive Jesus.  I certainly don't always obey that spirit and still end up sinning, but I have that power is there.

Life to the full comes when I don't play the comparison game.  God knew the tremendous burden of playing the comparison game when he said not to covet.  It's tiring to always try to get what we don't have or to worry that we should have what we don't have.  He knew that our hearts would be inclined to want what is not ours, and he wanted to protect us.

Let's not only use Ben Comen's example of not comparing ourselves to others, but let's walk with and be satisfied with Jesus daily so we don't want what is not ours.