Comparative Religion

You might think you are better than the Pharisee that was comparing his level of righteousness with another and bragging about all the good things he is doing for God. 

You might think you are not that Pharisee who thinks he has done enough to earn God's blessing for his life. 

But really? Ask again are you sure you are not that guy? 

While you go on thinking and evaluating your life in comparison to this guy, know that you are becoming this Pharisee guy yourself.

Comparing your level of righteousness with another. 

Christ should always be our standard. There is nothing like this Christian is better than the other one down the street. Or this Preacher is more direct than the other. 

Our standard of measurement should always be Christ. The measure of sugar is on how sweet it is, the measure of salt is on how salty it it. We don't go on saying this salt is more salty than sugar. So as such the measure of how Christian a Christian is should be how much of Christ can we see in him. 

And while you don't compare our level of righteousness, we also should not compare our level of suffering. 

We could easily get carried away thinking the persecuted Christians in some very though regions are more persecuted that Christians in the west, but is that really true? 

It might be and it might not be. But the one measure of Christian suffering should never be in comparison to others, it is always a measure of how much Christ has assigned to us. 

Imagine the Project Manager saying that the Customer Service Agents have it easier because they only have to speak on the phone and not stress about different level of stakeholders. But as he tried making some calls himself? 

The same way a Preacher preaching to thousands every week is not doing more than the Children Teacher with 5 kids every week. As a matter of fact in God's own record, the Preacher's performance might be scored on a lower percentage. 

So stop comparing to others, and start looking unto Jesus always! 

And like Paul asked God on that route to Damascus, our daily ask should be, "What will you have me do, Lord?"