Have you ever driven past a neighbourhood and looked at the houses and said to yourself that it is out of your league? Let us just be honest now, don’t we all do that even in the different spheres of life?
I am taken back in my mind to when I was a child at school. I mean, even in school we were divided into classes. Normally, as I saw it, the A and B classes were for the kids who took maths and science. Hence, automatically if you were not on that intellectual level, you kind of felt less clever, I guess? But then again, even in the A and B classes there use to be division. Those kids who were super intelligent and very athletic, was the “in” crowd and the rest, regarded as nerds.
The reality is, that this is the story of our lives. At school there is clear division and so it continues into adult life. Watching any media, you realise that a “perfect” life is portrayed, an expectancy of how we should live, dress, and what we should look like. It is as if those things would place you in a socially acceptable league. In my opinion, it contributes to why people constantly compare themselves to others.
If we are not brought up to accept that everyone is unique and have different talents, roles to play and lives to live, we might very easily find ourselves marginalized, which in turn can contribute to regular comparison, low self-esteem and a feeling of not belonging anywhere.
In Genesis 1:27 we read that God created us in His own image. That, in itself, tells us that we are so unique, blessed beyond measure and able to do anything that God directs us to do. Let us top that up with Psalm 139:13 – 16 which says: For You created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.
People place people in different classes/leagues, based on what they earn, where they live and how they look; but the truth is that we are those people. We are the ones doing it. We drive past and say that we are not in someone else’s class/league; but are we supposed to be? We are all unique, able and created for a time such as this. We were never created to be someone else or to be like them, for then we will miss our purpose.
Let us stop comparing, idealising and wishing our lives to be like that of others. Yes, we must take what we have, work on it, build on it and better it; but never become so obsessive with what we do not have, that we miss on the things that we do in fact have. Have you heard of keeping up with the Joneses? According to Wikipedia, “Keeping up with the Joneses is an idiom in many parts of the English-speaking world referring to the comparison to one’s neighbor as a benchmark for social class or the accumulation of material goods. To fail to “keep up with the Joneses” is perceived as demonstrating socio-economic or cultural inferiority.”
I was never in the A Class and neither in the “in” group. However, I am in the God class and therefore in the best and highest league that one could ever be in. In this league we stay humble, do not compare, accept our challenges, grow through difficulties, strive for better without becoming obsessive with worldly things and are God driven, not man or worldly driven.
It also means that we take up our true identity in Him. We acknowledge that He created us in His image (Genesis 1:27), He chose us (John 15:16), qualified and abled us (Philippians 4:13), provides for us (Ephesians 1:3) and never expects us to go through things alone (Joshua 1:5). He goes through every battle with us (Joshua 1:9) and no matter what we have to face, He has our backs, goes before us and open doors for us (Revelation 3:7). Who on earth would not want to be in this league, God’s league?
Dear reader, let us not get distracted by the beauty that the world offers, for those things are temporary and change from day to day and therefore we will never be able to keep up with the Joneses. Let us teach our children from a young age that life is not about money, fame and titles or about having to be like someone else. Let us teach them to know God, know their identity and abilities in Him, and to live out their full potential and purpose in Him. This applies to us now as adults as well. You see, we do not have to keep up with the Joneses! That was never God’s plan.
Love in Christ,
Princess K