To Compare or Not to Compare

[thimsrebma]

So a thread I posted along with a few other recent threads, got me thinking. Many people say it is not good to compare yourself to others. Some say it can be unhealthy because everyone is different, or you cannot live up to others expectations, etc.

But I was wondering if there is ever any reason that comparing yourself/life to others can be beneficial. For instance sometimes comparing and contrasting attributes can motivate you to become better at something or work harder to acheive something.


Please tell me what you think.

 

[babarainbowsheep]

I was once given a pearl necklace, all different shapes and sizes.
They are, were made differently.
Different times, environments, conditions........shaped them.

I think we are different in the people we are and in the souls we are.

We have different strengths, gifts and also different backgrounds and experiences.
Very very different.

I prefer not to compare.
I dont compare or hardly ever have.

Have had woman compare themselves to me in a very hateful tone and in group (all them against me) to empower them and belittle me when so was not the case.I did not want it, but it happened and that in a bad way.


One man had energy and used it all on hating and doing harm and evil to get what he wanted another man used it all on loving and with God
One could compare that its better use energy on loving and with God than to hate and do evil for personal vendetta or get what want.
Choose not to hate.Keep soul pure.

Theres different ways of life and its easy for someone to judge another who was less 4tunate for how they been but I truly beleive thats for Jesus to judge not people.For only Jesus can know the true suffering and truth of what and why.
Sometimes things are not as they seem and all are fooled, all but God.

Comparing can be done in a very belittling judgemental way sometimes without seeing the whole aspect of reasons.
I dont compare to be inspired I do see in others what I admire or would like to be or do more of but not by them downing me for we had different conditions etc.

Then again sometimes it can be good to compare.
But one should be very respectful, careful with it and listen to God and Gods will of it.
Also for that particular reason or "thing" one is comparing.

 

[zeroturbulence]

Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else
Galatians 6:4 NIV

 

[Matthew]

So a thread I posted along with a few other recent threads, got me thinking. Many people say it is not good to compare yourself to others. Some say it can be unhealthy because everyone is different, or you cannot live up to others expectations, etc.

But I was wondering if there is ever any reason that comparing yourself/life to others can be beneficial. For instance sometimes comparing and contrasting attributes can motivate you to become better at something or work harder to acheive something.

To me it can be helpful in only one way, as you mentioned it can bring new motivation into your own life, if you see someone comparable to yourself in age and circumstance who has seemed to achieve more it can 'wake you up' to the fact that you can do more than you have been, that you have so much potentail that you have not built on, it is easy to become complacent, but as a general rule it's a seriosuly bad idea.

Once you start down that road there is a natural tendency in all of us to look deeper, farther and wider and suddenly you can find yourself feeling inadequate, comparing yourself or your life to others is ultimately damaging and the good that can come of it makes up about 1% of all it's consequences.

 

[Jullianna]

If we see godly traits in others that we admire, I don't think there's anything wrong with trying to bring those same behaviors and attitudes into our own lives with God's help.

All too often though people tend to look for the negatives rather than positives in others in order to feel better about their own failings. In those instances, it's important to pause and compare whatever good we think we have in us to Christ for a reality check.

 

[VikkiKate89]

You're asking if it's okay or not to do something that's usually unavoidable and a total knee-jerk reaction... that's like asking if it's okay to cough when something goes down the wrong pipe. Whether it is or isn't it's going to happen anyways.

Now if you're talking about dwelling on it or even obsessing on it, that's a whole other story. It can be okay because sometimes you need to observe a better example in order to motivate yourself to change for the better. Other times it's just unhealthy and you can end up setting unrealistic standards, or think yourself unrealistically better than you really are.

 

[thimsrebma]

You're asking if it's okay or not to do something that's usually unavoidable and a total knee-jerk reaction... that's like asking if it's okay to cough when something goes down the wrong pipe. Whether it is or isn't it's going to happen anyways.

Now if you're talking about dwelling on it or even obsessing on it, that's a whole other story. It can be okay because sometimes you need to observe a better example in order to motivate yourself to change for the better. Other times it's just unhealthy and you can end up setting unrealistic standards, or think yourself unrealistically better than you really are.

I think thats the point of this thread. I have seen many responses in other threads about different issues saying you shouldn't compare yourself to others. I wanted to hear some different responses about it.

Is it wrong/sinful? Is it avoidable? What constitutues dwelling on the issue? Those are the things I wanted people to think about.

 

[niceguyJ]

I picked sometimes. As some others have said, it can be good to see positive traits in others and get motivation to do better. However, we shouldn't beat ourselves up too much if we perceive they're doing better than us. Notice I said perceive. Even the people who seem to have it all figured out etc. etc. have problems. They just might not be as open about them. Everyone has room for improvement. So it would be dumb to idolize any human...and that can happen.

 

[Liz01]

I think that is natural in us as human beings to compare with other ppl, but i think that we should not do that, because we were created as a part of the body of Christ, we were made different from each other to acomplish the plan of God, so i think that God put in us different characteristics, different personalities, i think he put us also in different places with different situations in our lives to acomplish this plan, so i think that we need to focus on accept the gifts that he gave us and to acomplish the purpose he has in us with our own personality and the things that he gave us and not trying to be like others.