COMPARISON ISSUES
Today's reading:  Psalm 119

"Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect your principles!  Then I will not be disgraced when I compare my life to your commands."  Psalm 119:5-6 NLT

I'll be very honest here:  It's easier to compare myself, I tend to look better and score higher, when I grade myself against you and others in the world than when I compare myself to 'thus saith the Word of the Lord'.

It's easier to appease you.  Calling it close enough is a lie a lot of us Christians are buying into lock, stock and barrel.

It's sometimes easier to out-do you.

It's simpler to just be a little better than you, than to follow God's commands.

It's a little less black and white when I set myself up to please you than it is God.

You tend to overlook a lot.  Well, sometimes.  You are a little more apt to write off my mistakes as imperfections and human nature than God is.  He calls it sin.  No getting around it.

That being said, I'm in need of a huge change in my heart and life.  It's not you I need to be comparing myself to anymore.  Your grading scale is not the one I must live up to any longer.  Your preconceived notions, ideas and whims are just that--yours.  And boy, oh boy, do they ever ride a roller coaster of changes!

Oh, that my actions would consistently reflect God's commands, and not be entertainment for the fellow strugglers I walk with!