The Comparison Game

Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

Galatians 5:26

Until last week, I’ve read Galatians 5:26 as an itemized checklist. I understood them as standalone commands.

√ Do not be conceited. (My translation: You shall not be proud.)

√ Do not provoke one another. (My translation: You shall not irritate, aggravate, or intentionally step on someone’s last nerve.)

√ Do not envy each other. (My translation: You shall not covet your neighbor’s jean size, spiritual gifts, picture perfect family, or anything else that belongs to your neighbor.)

Within his book, Galatians for You, Timothy Keller gave me needed clarity about this verse. Although they are standalone truths from God’s Word, they’re intentionally woven together. All three (not just the first command) are tied to conceit.

Keller writes, “’Provoking’ is the stance of someone who is sure of his or her superiority, looking down on someone perceived to be weaker. ‘Envying’ is the stance of someone who is conscious of inferiority, looking ‘up’ at someone they feel is above them.”

Provoking and envying are flip sides of the same self-absorbed coin. One is conceit absorbed in superiority; the other is conceit wrapped in an inferiority complex. Both are driven by comparisons, either feeling greater than or less than others, depending on the crowd and context of the activity or conversation. Both seek glory for self instead of for God.

When God is the greatest in our lives we find our identity and worth in Christ instead of comparisons. When God is center of our lives we grab hold of who He says we are! You glorify God instead of self when you . . .

• Praise Him because you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
• Give thanks for the place in life that the Lord assigned to you and to what He has called you (1 Corinthians 7:17).
• Test your own actions, instead of comparing yourself to others (Galatians 6:4).
• Delight in how He has determined the times set for you and the exact places where you should live (Acts 17:26).
• Give thanks for heaven’s gifts, handpicked for you (John 3:27).
• Celebrate that you are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for you to do (Ephesians 2:10).

HE>i: How often do you play the comparison game, which leads to judgment (superiority) or jealousy (inferiority)? 

When we feel conceited–superior or inferior–we need to root our glory, our sense of worth, in who we are in and through Christ.

Tim Keller

grace and peace,

Lenae