Comparatively Speaking
Theme of the Week: The Secret of Contentment
Gary Thomas
Monday, November 24, 2003
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Key Bible Verse: Give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs (Proverbs 30:8). Bonus Reading:Deuteronomy 8:10-14
Arriving for a speaking engagement, I was picked up at the airport by a young man in an older van that had three infant seats strapped to the back seat.
"You've got your hands full," I said.
"I sure do," he responded. In fact, his wife was ready to give birth any day to their fourth child. Their twins were three-and-a-half years old. This couple was hours away from having four under four.
"Where do you live?" I asked.
"We have a single-wide trailer out in the middle of nowhere," he laughed.
I quickly did the arithmetic: four children under the age of four, plus two adults, in a single-wide trailer … Suddenly, my own 2,000-square-foot house with three children and two adults didn't seem quite so small—even though it had felt like it just a few hours before.
But it's not human nature to compare our lot with those who have it more difficult. No, we are far more likely to compare our circum- stances with those who have it demonstrably easier or "better." It seems that, regardless of how good we have it, we still struggle with envy if someone else has it just a little bit better.
—Gary Thomas in Authentic Faith
My Response: To escape the comparison trap, I need to …
Thought to Apply: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
—John Piper (Minnesota pastor)
Adapted from Authentic Faith (Zondervan, 2002) by permission.
Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine.
Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.
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Lord, teach me to get along happily with whatever You wisely and graciously choose for me.
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