Hanging in the entrance of Rustic Cuff headquarters is a sign that says, “Don’t compare your Chapter 1 to someone else’s Chapter 20.” There are so many ways we compare ourselves. Our physical appearance. Our talents. Our kids. Our jobs. Our financial status. The list goes on and on. When I was in elementary school, I discovered I had a bump in the middle of my nose. Now, it’s not like it suddenly appeared out of nowhere. I had just never cared about it before. I began to compare my nose to every other nose around me. Any time I saw a “perfect nose,” I felt worse about mine.
And then one day I had an epiphany: If God had intended for me to have a different nose, He would have given it to me. By comparing, it was as if I was criticizing His artwork—telling Him that He made a mistake.
Once we become okay with who we are NOT and the gifts we DON’T have, we can focus on what we ARE and what we DO have. Imagine if, hanging next to that sign at Rustic Cuff headquarters, we had a list of the repercussions that come from playing the comparison game! We would be much more mindful the next time we were tempted to give in to comparison.
What we often fail to realize is that it’s not the greatness or grandness of the talent that matters. It’s what we do with what is in our hands. It’s how God takes what little we may have and multiplies it above and beyond what we could ever comprehend.
God gives others what they need for what they do, and He gives YOU what you need for what you do.
Stop looking.
Stop scrolling.
Stop comparing.
God has created you with the gifts, the DNA, the personality, the uniqueness, that He wanted you to have.