I Was Robbed

Tonight when I got home from church I discovered that I had been robbed. 

Not physically like my house or bank account. But even more importantly, I had been robbed spiritually. 

I have robbed myself of the joy I should have in salvation. I get so caught up in what I’m not that I completely forget what I am as a Christian.  

I have heard it been said that comparison is the theif of joy. And man can I testify to that. 

Galations 1:10 “For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Whenever I get on Instagram or Facebook and Pinterest I see all the places my friends are going. I see how many likes and views other bloggers get on their post. I lust after things that I can’t afford. I want to be satisfied and happy just like these other people I see are. 

I get so enveloped in what others have that don’t see that I have made them idols. These things become idols to me because I put their significance in my life over God’s.

Maybe for you it isn’t money or likes. Maybe it is talents and gifts. 

I love to sing. And I have an okay voice, it sounds decent. Whenever I hear another person who has an incredible voice get up and sing I get jealous and even bitter towards them and myself. I compare my voice to theirs and place my self worth in what I can do. 

Philippians 2:3 “Do nothing from selfish ambition of conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

And it all roots from pride. My pride looks at others and says “I need to be as good and even better than they are, I need to be the best”. Which leads to comparison. Which leads to depression because I can’t measure up to another person because I am not them and that is not who God made me to be. 

Pride and comparison also leads to self-hate. 

I am a quiet person in general. Especially in public. To a lot of people I seem boring, and too quiet. Being a people person is always something I have struggled with. 

Whenever I start to compare myself to people I know who are sociable and fun to talk to and are just naturally good at making conversation. I start to hate myself for not being like them. I want to build walls between myself and other people. If I don’t like myself how can others?  

Comparison has robbed me of what I have as a child of God. 

God placed me in the exact spot I am in now for a reason. For a purpose that He  wants me to fulfill! 

He made me with an okay voice probably because He knew if I had a heavenly one I would be full of myself. 

He gave me my very own personality that is composed of all the different parts of my life and has made me what I am today.

He has blessed me with a job to make money and a house to live in. He gave me a wonderful husband who daily demonstrates to me God’s love and grace. 

He sent His only son to die for me. He still comes down and wraps Himself around me despite my filthy hands and my disgusting sins. 

I haved robbed myself the past few years. I stole away my joy and my peace of mind. I replaced it with things that the world duplicates as joy. But it was short lived and unstable because it depended on me. To have joy I can’t depend on myself. I have to depend on the one who is independent. 

1 Timothy 6:6 “But godliness with contentment is great gain.”

Whenever you become uncontent with your life you don’t gain anything. You only steal away the joy you could have and the peace of mind you have as a child of God. Don’t rob yourself!!! Take it from an expert theif who has broken into my heart and robbed myself of joy and contentment by comparing myself to others.