About Comparing Yourself With Other People

Joyce: The whole thing about comparing yourself with other people is a huge problem. It was a major freedom for me when God taught me years ago not to compare myself with other people and for me, it all kind of started in almost a humorous way now although it wasn’t humorous at the time.  I had a neighbor I called miss arts and crafts. She could do all the things that I couldn’t do. She was your perfect woman, housekeeper, homemaker. She made her family’s clothes. She had a garden and canned.

She canned food and all this stuff and I could barely sew a button on and get it to stay. Matter of fact, my husband now if he wants a button on, he puts it on by himself. I didn’t realize how much I was comparing myself to her and how I felt that I was not a “regular woman.”

Dr. Mintle: I think if we don’t have a plumb line for who we are, if we don’t have any centering place where we can go and say

“this is who I am.” I used to look at that scripture, “you’re wonderfully and fearfully made” and think I only focused on the fearful part of that.  I was a little fearful because I’m like you and can’t sew a button on either.  I would see all these people doing all these things. Same thing: I would look at these other women and think: wow!

I can’t do an arts and craft to save my life. That’s just not where I’m talented but that’s okay. Thank you!  So we look at those women and I totally get what you’re saying about that. We have to look at who we are and how God uniquely made us. I think if we don’t have that centering place to go and to say, “God, what is it about me?” not every woman can sit here and do television. Not every woman can have that.

Joyce: right.  Right!

Dr. Mintle: That’s right! And feel good about it and look at the camera and feel okay. If you don’t know who you are, then you are gonna be looking to all these people and you are gonna try to compare yourself, so you’ve got to go into the source which is God and his word and it tells us who we are in Christ. Once you get that in your brain, then you don’t have to compare yourself with others.