Finding Freedom From
COMPARISON
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. – Galatians 5:1
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free… So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” – John 8:31,32, 36
OKAY – so we are in this series, a very important series, a potentially life-changing series…Finding Freedom in a world that seeks to bind us.
NOW THIS MORNING – we are going to talk about finding freedom from COMPARISON.
Freedom from what?
QUESTION – has comparison ever been your master?
Has it ever been the boss of you?
LIKE – has comparison ever controlled… your moods, peace, joy, hope, confidence, hope, self worth?
UNDER BROTHERS ANS SISTERS – comparison in a very lousy boss and an extremely cruel master.
AMEN?!
QUESTION – how many of you, and raise your hands (in this room and online)… are you on Facebook or Instagram?
OKAY – then I know you have a pretty good understanding of what comparison is all about.
NOW – when Facebook started (on 2/2004, by a Harvard Sophomore) is was pretty much about
keeping up with people that you like, but over the years it has kind of evolved to keeping up with people you resent.
NOW – before Facebook and Instagram (as crazy and primitive as it sounds) you did not know so many of the details about the lives of others…
LIKE - before social media I did not know about or see images of…
• How great your plate of food for dinner looked
• How incredible your vacation was
• How amazing your home looks at Christmas
• How cute your kids are at bedtime
• How great your new haircut looks
• How stunning and happy you and your spouse looked on your date night
• How adventurous you look on your latest outdoor conquest
• Happy you looked as were working on some outreach for God
• How far you can now run or much weight you had lost
• What college your child was accepted to
QUESTION…
• HAVE YOU EVER - scrolled through your feed on Facebook or Instagram and began to feel discontent with your own life? LIKE – somehow kids, your home, your marriage, your life was not measuring up?
It Crazy – I tend some scrolling just yesterday and I saw this picture at friends church in Florida.
• HAVE YOU EVER – decided to up your came, and stage that perfect photo so that people will know just how awesome your life is? That way, maybe you could make them feel a little discontent about their life compared to yours?
• AND HAVE YOU EVER – done what I have done… take pictures of pictures…
YOU SEE – some of the stuff I want you to see (like me those cute pictures of me with my older kids cute picture or our wedding pictures) all I have is actual photographs… so I have taken pictures of pictures… Yeah, I know… very lame.
BUT LISTEN, LISTEN – one of the great, helpful and thing about Facebook and Instagram… THEY ARE - a constant reminder (and we all need reminding of this) that…
there is no win in comparison.
AND LISTEN – not only is there no win in comparison but there is also no freedom in comparison.
AND THAT
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS
IS WHY – this morning 12/20/20 we are going to talk about finding freedom from COMPARSION.
NOW HERE’S - how I want to attack our conversation this morning… by unpacking two statements.
1. Comparison is a major problem
2. Godly significance is freedom (and as I said last week this is where the First Christmas Story comes in)
AND LET ME BE CLEAR – the goal of this conversation is for you and I to stop living in the trap of comparison and begin pursuing Godly significance.
AND LISTEN – Jesus did not put on flesh and come to this world as baby for you and to be enslaved by comparison.
Let’s Pray…
I. Comparison Is A Major Problem
AND – let me give you 2 reasons why it is a problem
A) It’s not wise
We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. – 2 Corinthians 10:12
When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
AND LISTEN - comparison is not wise for at least 3 reasons…
#1 – as I said earlier.
1) There is no way to win in comparison
UNDERSTAND – for the most part comparison leads to either one of two destructive emotions…
A feeling of pride
You know – I am doing so much better, I am accomplishing so much more, I am so much further along then they are…
But remember Scripture warns us time and time again – that God hates and opposes pride and that pride leads to destruction.
A feeling that you are deficient
You know - lacking, defective, insufficient, inadequate, not good enough, not as good as others… less than
NOW - let me give you (and myself) some advice…
Anything that makes you feel less than, you should remove it from your life.
Stop looking, stop watching, stop scrolling
2) It is the wrong reference point
UNDERSTAND – God did not create you to become someone else, he created you to be you.
MGCC – when you stand before Him one day (and we all will)
God is not going to ask you why you were not more like.
But he may ask you why you were not more like the person He created you to be.
For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:10
LISTEN - You are a unique work of art of Almighty God
And understand our God does not do carbon copies.
AMEN?!
Again God wants you to be You!
Let me make a few statements and then read a quote and then we will move on to the third reason that comparison is a problem.
Compare yourself to who you were yesterday not to who someone else is today.
Look to other people for inspiration not imitation
You are not what you think you are. There is a glory to your life that your enemy fears, and he is hell-bent on destroying that glory before you act on it… The story of your life is the story of the long and brutal assault on your heart by the one who knows who you could be and fears it.
– John Eldredge (Waking The Dead)
Comparison is not wise, because…
• There is no win in comparison
• It is the wrong reference point, and because
C) It can lead to tragic consequences
The classic example is King Saul
When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.” 8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?” – 1 Samuel 18:6-8
You’ll never experience God’s purpose for your life while distracted by God’s purposes for someone else’s life.
OKAY – so comparison is a major problem because it is not wise, and in Ecclesiastes 4 we see another reason why comparison is problem…
MGCC - check this out.
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. – Ecclesiastes 4:4
NOW SOLOMON – was a guy who has been around for quite awhile and has seen a lot of things… and not only that but he had been incredible wisdom and insight from God.
AND SO HE SAYS – here is what I have observed (now it’s a little hyperbolic, by here is what he has observed) THAT…
• Everybody is competing with everybody else
• Everybody is measuring where they, measuring their success by comparing themselves to everybody else.
• Everybody is determining when they are based on where somebody else is
Sound familiar…
People are determining where they are based on where someone else is and Solomon says that…
This is crazy, nuts, ridiculous… well actually he uses a different phrase…
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless
This too is…?
It’s pointless
It does not make sense
It gets you nowhere (at least not anywhere good)
AND THEN – Solomon gives us this powerful word picture.
AND LISTEN – I believe that God wants these words and the image that they paint, to become both… an anchor point and a reality check in our lives whenever we find ourselves being pulled under by the waves of comparison,
pulled into that place where we determine where and who we are, based upon on where somebody else is.
And I saw that all toil and all achievement spring from one person’s envy of another. This too is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. – Ecclesiastes 4:4
MGCC – Comparison is a problem because…
It’s chasing after the wind
Ever try to do that…
What a powerful image, other words comparison
• Is endless
• There’s no finish line
• There no way you will ever be able to grab a hold of it
• There’s no peace
• There’s no contentment
MGCC – chasing after the wind - it’s like and unquenchable and insatiable appetite…
UNDERSTAND - there will always be an ‘ER’ when you chase the wind, because…
• His is newer
• Hers is nicer
• Her kids are smarter
• And their house is bigger
• His is faster
MGCC – when you determine where you are based upon where someone else is…
THERE WILL - always an ER, there will always be someone with a bigger ER.
AND SO – here’s the deal…
WHEN YOU - chase the wind, when you allow comparison to be your master…
IT – just never ends, there is never any lasting satisfaction
IN FACT – you can’t even enjoy the things that you have accomplished or the place where you are at.
NOW - check out what Solomon writes just one verse later…
Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. – Ecclesiastes 4:6
IN OTHER WORDS – it is better to have one handful of what you were designed to do and what you were created for…
THEN – to have 2 handfuls when one of those handfuls is just stressing you out.
BECAUSE YOU – are trying to keep up with someone you were never designed to keep up with.
YOU SEE – ‘tranquility’ even if you have less is better than having more and losing your peace… losing yourself
Now tranquility is not a word that we use all that much, but it simply means satisfaction, contentment.
• IT’S - coming home at the end of the day and going ‘I did my best and I am fine, I’m really okay with that.
• IT’S - laying in bed at night and having peace because you are not stressed out trying to become someone and accomplish things… that you were not called or designed, or created to accomplish.
• IT’S – being totally okay with who God created you to be, and accomplish what he intended for you to accomplish.
BUT LISTEN – chasing after the wind, living a life of comparison (determining who you are by where someone else is)
LEAVES YOU - always wanting more and always feeling less than.
It’s an appetite that can never be satisfied.
THAT – is why Solomon says…
Better one handful with tranquility than two handfuls with toil and chasing after the wind. – Ecclesiastes 4:6
UNDERSTAND
Less is more when it leads to contentment.
When it leads to peace…
Peace with yourself (and who you are)
And with those who are most important to you
YOU SEE – it is better to have one handful with contentment then – grasping, and striving, and pretending, and editing, and cropping, and retaking, and retaking, and retaking…
Trying to create that perfect image that tells the world that you matter.
YEAH – chasing after the wind, it will just wear you out and beat you down.
I MEAN – that why someone of you off social media because every time you went on…
‘I’m a loser, I’m a loser, I’m a loser…
my husband’s a/my kids…
HEY – like I said earlier if anything makes you feel less than.
Get rid of it
Remove it
Stop looking
Stop scrolling
BROTHERS AND SISTERS – we need to find freedom from comparison because it’s a problem.
It’s not wise
• There is no win
• It is the wrong point of reference
• It can have tragic consequences
Yeah, it’s not wise and
It is chasing after the wind
You’ll never experience God’s purpose for your life while distracted by God’s purposes for someone else’s life.
GET IT?
NOW THIS WEEK – I kept asking myself the question…
WHY - do people compare?
WHY - do they walk into the trap of comparing where they are based on where some else is.
LIKE WHAT - are they really looking for, what am I looking for why I also willingly walk into this comparison trap?
AND LISTEN – after reflecting on this question…
HERE – is my conclusion.
NOW – I am not saying that it is, ‘the conclusion’ on the matter, it simply mine.
I THINK - that one of the reason we compare is because we want… to matter, to count, we want our lives to have meaning and significance.
AND THIS MGCC – brings us to the Christmas Story.
AND TO – the second point in our conversation this morning
Comparison is a major problem, and
II. Godly Significance Is Freedom
AND LISTEN – I do not think that it is enough to simply say, ‘Okay I just won’t do this comparison thing anymore’
BECAUSE – it our world the pull towards comparison is just too strong… INSTEAD – we need to replace this pull towards determining where we are based on where someone else is, with a passion to pursue Godly significance.
NOW UNDERSTAND
EVERY ONE – wants to be significant…
WE ALL - want who we are and what we do - to count…
WE ALL - want our life to matter…
WE ALL - want to be important, to feel like we measure up at least at some level…
BUT IF - we use the world’s standards (which is hard not to do - because we are bombarded and saturated with those standards 24/7 – in music, tv, movies, social media…etc), very few of us will ever measure up…
SO WHAT – makes someone significant?
WELL - according to the standards of our time & culture - you are significant;
• IF you have a lot of money
• IF you have a huge house
• IF you are physically attractive
• IF you have what society deems to be an important career, like… sports, television, politics, music, movies,
• IF you come from a wealthy family or famous family (how you doing so far)
AGAIN – everyone wants to feel significant (including you) –
NOW - you may not want to be a celebrity BUT I know that everyone here (in this room and watching online),
WANTS - to feel like their life counts (raise your hand0.
BUT unfortunately by the world’s standards most if not all of us, don’t really measure up.
AND LISTEN – if you allow yourself to buy into the world’s value system and use it as your standard of comparison… , YOU ARE - going to feel pretty lousy about yourself and your life most of the time…
HOWEVER – the good news is this - God’s standards of significance are not the same as the world’s.
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts..” Is 55:8,9
UNDERSTAND MGCC – God’s standards of significance are radically different than the world’s…
THEY – go much deeper, they reach much higher…
AND – they often show up in surprising ways and in the lives of some surprising people…
LIKE – in the Christmas Story…
YOU SEE – in the Christmas story God shows us once again that His thoughts are not our thoughts and that His ways are not our ways… AS HE – unleashes some powerful truths about the godly significance that we should pursue that will lead us to freedom for the shackles of comparison….
OKAY – so let’s do this…
LET’S – take a look at a few people and see what they have to teach us about the godly significance we should passionately pursue.
AND LISTEN – at the core of what they will teach us is found in these powerful God-breathed, life-giving and comparison destroying words found in 1 Samuel 16:8
OKAY – some brief context, because when it comes to understanding the bible ‘context is king.’
• The prophet Samuel is going to the house of Jesse to anoint the next King, King Saul having destroyed by comparison had lost God’s favor.
• Jesus has 8 sons, he left the youngest in the fields
• His oldest is named Eliab.
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” - 1 Samuel 16:7
A) The Jesus Parents Of Jesus
IMAGINE – that God gave you the job of selecting the parents for the Messiah.
“HEY – I want you to find a couple who will raise my Son when He puts on flesh.”
WHO – would you pick?
WHAT – would be your criteria?
NOW - if we are honest we would have to admit that we would not have chosen Mary and Joseph in a million years.
INSTEAD - we would have selected wealthy parents, so that the Christ child could have the best of everything.
WE - would have selected parents who were mature, so we could have been sure of protection and wisdom.
THE - parents we would have selected, would have been people of culture, power and influence…
SO THAT - the Messiah would have the right education, be shown the winning strategies and have the best contacts. LOOK - around at the people who make an impact on the world. Usually they are wealthy, powerful and influential people.
Many great Americans of the past and present came from wealthy families: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John F Kennedy… Now there are exceptions and Sometimes, a rail splitter becomes president but that's the exception not the rule.
Remember when the wise men came to Jerusalem searching for the Messiah? Where did they go? They went immediately to the palace and asked, "WHERE IS HE WHO IS BORN A KING?"
QUESTION – why did they go there? BECAUSE that was an obvious place to look -- after all, Royalty begets royalty, AND AN OBVIOUS PLACE TO LOOK FOR A KING IS IN A PALACE, RIGHT?.
BUT - the first Christmas presented an incredible surprise. God selected 2 unlikely people, a teenage girl named Mary and a poor blue collar worker, named Joseph? Joseph was just a carpenter from the backwoods uncultured town, of Nazareth (not known for it's greatness…)
I MEAN – perhaps you remember what Nathaniel said when he was first told by Philip about Jesus, "CAN ANYTHING GOOD COME OUT OF NAZARETH." Jn 1:46
YES - the parents of Jesus were surprising; Mary a teenage girl... and Joseph a poor carpenter
I MEAN - these 2 don’t appear to BE…
• ‘significant’ enough, or
• ‘important’ enough
to be chosen as the parents of the most significant child ever to be born… LIKE – they hardly any followers on social media.
UNDERSTAND…
IN CHOOSING - Joseph and Mary God was saying (and he said it very loud – and very clear)… THAT - it is not education, money, family, background, or even natural ability - that makes someone significant…
Then what is it?
People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” -
OKAY SO - let’s see what Joseph and Mary teach is about the heart that is significant to God…
1) FIRST – let’s take a look at Joseph’.…
AND AS – I read Matthew 1:19-24…
PUT - yourself in Joseph’s sandals. The woman you love says she is pregnant, BUT she keeps insisting that she has never been unfaithful to you…
What would you do? How would you respond?
Would you buy that story?
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins."
All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.
“When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord commanded.” - Matthew 1:19-26
THINK ABOUT IT – there is no way that any of this stuff made sense to Joseph (not from a human standpoint – and remember that is what Joseph was a human)…
BUT - nevertheless, he obeyed God…
AND THAT - is one of the characteristics that pleases God and makes us significant…
Godly significance = a faithful heart that obeys even when things don’t add up or make sense.
2) NOW – let’s look at Mary
LUKE – tells us that when Gabriel showed up at Mary’s place she was greatly troubled. No kidding…
ANGELS – are great and powerful beings… AND – Gabriel was one of the greatest…
BUT UNDERSTAND – not only did Gabriel presence freak Mary out… SO - did his message…
I MEAN – put yourself in Mary’s place; you are going about your own business then a huge angel suddenly appears… AND – says;
"Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you… Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end… - Luke 1:28-33
UNDERSTAND – for a young, newly engaged, poor teenage girl, from a small backwoods town - those ARE some pretty troubling words.
AFTER ALL - she was engaged at the time to Joseph…
• How would he respond, What would other people say
• And how could she possibly be the mother of God…
UNDERSTAND – Mary could have responded like Moses did, when God met him at the burning bush and told him he had been chosen to deliver God’s people. "Lord I’m just a girl I’m not ready to be a mother, I’m not wealthy… I’m not educated - I’m not worthy of this maybe it would be better if you got someone else."
BUT – that is not what Mary said…
I am the Lord’s servant, may it be as you have said..."
Luke 1:38
I love it… I MEAN…
Here’s this simple 14 year old girl… From a simple town with a simple faith, but it’s a sincere and simple faith. She knows very little. She’s not been formally educated. She doesn’t have the bible on her smart phone…She has bits and pieces of Scripture that she treasures in her heart.
BUT HERE’S - what she has: faith.
She actually believes what God says.
LISTEN – most of us in this room, have far more information than her and far less faith in it.
We think, “I need to learn a lot more,” maybe we do,
BUT - first things first, let’s believe what we’ve already been taught.
Mary knows very little, but she trusts it all. It’s amazing… She actually trusts God, takes him at his word. And she responds and says, “I’m the Lord’s servant, whatever he wants, that’s what I want, I will serve as he calls.”
It’s up to Him, not me, It’s His story, not mine
AND REMEMBER – before Gab showed up and crashed the party… Mary had a script for her life:
“I’m going to marry Joseph, it’s going to be a great wedding, the dress will actually fit, and then we’re going to consummate our marriage and then we’re going to make babies and everybody’s going to think I’m a good person and nobody is going to call me a tramp because I will be a virgin.”
AND THEN - the angel shows up and says, “New script,”
AND - Mary says, “Well, whatever the Lord wants, he gets to write the script for my life. I love him, I trust him, and I’m his servant,” says this junior high girl.
Godly significance = a faithful heart willing to serve God at any time and in any way.
SIGNIFICANCE – is all about the heart…
AND IF – you are tired of chasing after the wind
AND ARE READY - to pursue the freedom that is found in Godly significance, You need to develop
• A heart of faithful obedience (even when)
• A heart of faithful service (anytime and in any way)
Our next lesson about godly significance comes from
B) The Shepherds
AND LISTEN – though we like to put them on cards and stick them on our lawns… shepherds weren't the most influential people of the day.
AS - a matter of fact, they were among the lower class of the day.
UNDERSTAND - their vocation was not a career that many people desired… IN FACT – it was the kind of job, you just somehow got stuck with..
MOST - were migrants, who ate and slept with the animals, and no doubt smelled like them too. The sophisticated peopled, rolled there eyes and kept their distance whenever they came walking down the road.
AGAIN - If we were asked to send the angels to someone to make what is without a doubt the greatest announcement of all time (all mighty God coming to live on planet earth) we probably would have chosen someone like: the great philosophers or theologians of the day, the members of the Sanhedrin or maybe we would have sent the angels to make the announcement to the Emperor of Rome…
HOWEVER - on that blessed night THE GREAT announcement came to Shepherds… telling them.
I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.
– Luke 2:10-12
Then a massive angelic choir shows up,
And then we read…
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. – Luke 2:15-18
OKAY – So what’s the lesson about godly significance that we learn from these shepherds?
What did God see in their hearts?
UNDERSTAND – God choose to give this awesome message to the shepherds because
They had a faithful heart that was passionate about Jesus
AND LISTEN - we see this passion displayed in 2 ways..
#1 - they were passionate to see the Christ…
After the angels made the announcement – the Shepherds said, “Let’s go see this thing that has, which the Lord told us about. So they hurried off….”
In the NLT – ‘they ran”
They said let’s go and they took off – what passion…
I MEAN - they weren’t about to wait around – not when they could see Jesus…
QUESTION – have you ever wondered what they did with the sheep…?
It appears that they just left them…
Much like Peter, James John & Andrew left their nets…
WHY – because to see Jesus was more important to them…
I MEAN - why hang out with sheep when you can see the Savior. AMEN?!
QUESTION – are you passionate about seeing Christ…?
I MEAN – is being in His presence the most important thing in your life?
And listen not only were the shepherds passionate about seeing Jesus (as awesome as that is)
But they were also passionate about sharing the news about Jesus.
When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them.
– Luke 2:15-18
They didn’t keep it to themselves – they told others…
QUESTION…
Are you not only passionate about seeing Jesus, about enjoying your relationship
But are you also passionate about sharing the good news about Jesus with other people who need to see what you have seen, know what you know?
God’s Significance =…
• a faithful heart that obeys even when things don’t add up or make sense
• a faithful heart willing to serve God at any time and in any way
• a faithful heart that is passionate about both seeing and sharing Jesus
QUESTION
Are you tired of chasing the wind?
Are you tired of choosing a way that is not wise?
