Photo Credit: Meagan Good
What powerful words!!! :)
I randomly went on Meagan Good's instagram today and saw this quote and I thought, 'This is powerful truth!!" Amen! :)
Maybe you've been feeling like you need to be like somebody else in order to be liked, or that you need to be something else to be liked, but you feel like it's not really you, it's somebody else. You may feel like people like somebody else more but don't like you.
Don't compare yourself. People are not meant to be liked based on who they want to be like, but based on who they already are.
I randomly went on Meagan Good's instagram today and saw this quote and I thought, 'This is powerful truth!!" Amen! :)
Maybe you've been feeling like you need to be like somebody else in order to be liked, or that you need to be something else to be liked, but you feel like it's not really you, it's somebody else. You may feel like people like somebody else more but don't like you.
Don't compare yourself. People are not meant to be liked based on who they want to be like, but based on who they already are.
1 Corinthians 12:12-30 touches on this perfectly. It talks about how we are one body, but many parts. I encourage you to do a Bible Study on it! :)
To some extent, comparisons stem from wanting to be like somebody else, but not ourselves, and comparing ourselves with others.
This text talks about how the body is actually a unit (verse 12).
A unit is defined as: "as individual thing or person regarded as single and complete but which can also form an individual component of a larger or more complex whole" (Oxford American Dictionary).
We were meant to be whole as an individual in Christ, and in that, to be a part of a joint and vital component of a more complex whole :)
We all have one and the same Spirit (verse 13). Praise God He doesn't give 100% of the Spirit to some and 20% to others when He "doesn't feel like it" haha! We're all whole and one in Christ.
Now, what does that look like in the physical world? Well, we are human, so comparing ourselves will occur, but it's making sure we don't make this our focus and pursuit (i.e. our worldly pursuit).
Verse 15 says, what if the foot said, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body", and verse 17 asks us what if the whole body became an eye where the sense of hearing be.
Friend, where would the sense of smell be if the body were a big 'ol ear?
Getting the picture now? :) :) ;-) Ok. So...
Know that we are made with significance, carefully crafted to be who we are, along with the role that we play. We are not insignificant.
Verses 22-26 may answers that notion:
"On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."
Amen. Did you read that? If ONE PART. ONE. ONE. ONE. ONEEEE part SUFFERS, EVERY PART SUFFERS WITH IT.
You are significant and you may not know it yet if you're still comparing yourself with others :) ;-)
You are important.
I'll leave you with my favorite part of the passage:
"But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." (verse 18).
I find this beautiful and inspiring because it says, "as HE wanted them to be." not as XYZ wanted them to be, but HE. He arranged them all perfectly. You are created perfectly to be who you are, and God created you to be that part, not man, but God (and we know that God is sovereign, so He is in control so it wasn't just random). He loves you very much and has not 'forgotten' about you. You are a vital component to the community of God, and you are wanted, just as you are.
So what does the quote at the beginning have to do with this?
Well, if we start liking who we are, and know what our purpose is, we're less likely to compare ourselves to others because we know who we are and whose we are. We will start realizing how wonderfully different yet similar we really are, and with that aspect, will start to wish well on others and not just ourselves :) It's a road and journey we all take together, so let's celebrate each other! Amen! :) Jesus loves you <3
To some extent, comparisons stem from wanting to be like somebody else, but not ourselves, and comparing ourselves with others.
This text talks about how the body is actually a unit (verse 12).
A unit is defined as: "as individual thing or person regarded as single and complete but which can also form an individual component of a larger or more complex whole" (Oxford American Dictionary).
We were meant to be whole as an individual in Christ, and in that, to be a part of a joint and vital component of a more complex whole :)
We all have one and the same Spirit (verse 13). Praise God He doesn't give 100% of the Spirit to some and 20% to others when He "doesn't feel like it" haha! We're all whole and one in Christ.
Now, what does that look like in the physical world? Well, we are human, so comparing ourselves will occur, but it's making sure we don't make this our focus and pursuit (i.e. our worldly pursuit).
Verse 15 says, what if the foot said, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body", and verse 17 asks us what if the whole body became an eye where the sense of hearing be.
Friend, where would the sense of smell be if the body were a big 'ol ear?
Getting the picture now? :) :) ;-) Ok. So...
Know that we are made with significance, carefully crafted to be who we are, along with the role that we play. We are not insignificant.
Verses 22-26 may answers that notion:
"On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it."
Amen. Did you read that? If ONE PART. ONE. ONE. ONE. ONEEEE part SUFFERS, EVERY PART SUFFERS WITH IT.
You are significant and you may not know it yet if you're still comparing yourself with others :) ;-)
You are important.
I'll leave you with my favorite part of the passage:
"But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be." (verse 18).
I find this beautiful and inspiring because it says, "as HE wanted them to be." not as XYZ wanted them to be, but HE. He arranged them all perfectly. You are created perfectly to be who you are, and God created you to be that part, not man, but God (and we know that God is sovereign, so He is in control so it wasn't just random). He loves you very much and has not 'forgotten' about you. You are a vital component to the community of God, and you are wanted, just as you are.
So what does the quote at the beginning have to do with this?
Well, if we start liking who we are, and know what our purpose is, we're less likely to compare ourselves to others because we know who we are and whose we are. We will start realizing how wonderfully different yet similar we really are, and with that aspect, will start to wish well on others and not just ourselves :) It's a road and journey we all take together, so let's celebrate each other! Amen! :) Jesus loves you <3
P.S. Next time you are questioning who you are, remember to go back to the original "Manual", the Maker knows who you are, He created you. Reinforce His truths about you over and over so you won't forget who you are in Christ! Or even better, have a heart-to-heart with Him, and ask Him who you are. ;-)
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