I love reading blogs. It has been a wonderful source of encouragement and inspiration for me to read the blogs of other pastors and church planters. I have to admit, though, that sometimes reading other blogs can get me a little down. I hear about success after success of others and, even though I fight the temptation, I find myself comparing what I’m doing with what others are doing. This is dangerous.
The truth is that you really can’t win the comparison game. You either perceive yourself as doing better than others and you slip into pride or you think you’re doing worse than others and you get down. Both are problems and extremely counterproductive. What’s really weird about it is that you could actually be doing quite well and still get down because there will always be somebody out there that is doing better than you. Comparison is a vicious trap.
The Parable of the Talents
The Lord has really been speaking to me a lot lately about the parable of the talents. Every time I turn around that parable is in my face. I think one of the main lessons of that story is that, at the end of the day, I’m only responsible for what I’ve done with what I’ve been given to work with.
I might not be a 5 talent kind of guy. I might just be a 2 talent guy or a 1 talent guy but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that I take the talents I have and I employ them for the Lord. The goal is not to have the most talents. The goal is the take everything I have and put it into play for the Lord.
Focus on Your Own Work
So, my fellow blog readers, read on. Rejoice with those that rejoice and weep with those that weep but REFUSE to compare yourself to others. Pay careful attention to your OWN work. And, when you’ve done your best, enjoy the satisfaction of a job well done.
About the Author
I think we could profit from some honest talk about failure. No sugar coating, no neat resolutions, no upside. Just our bad ideas, poor leadership, and hubris.
Readers would learn more in the process.
I agree, Josh. I’m thinking about starting a section here on the site where pastors talk about their biggest failures and what they’ve learned from them.
I’d be happy to contribute, got plenty of material
This is good stuff, Tony; just what I needed to read. Keep up the good work!
Thanks, Matt. Glad it spoke to you.