All too often, we compare our lives as Christians with other people who we know claim to be Christians. We look at their lives and say, “Well, they are Christians, and they still do this or don’t do that….so I will just do what they do, and I’ll be fine!” Or we hear a sermon or read a book or the Bible and find something that we need to stop doing or change in our lives – and we think, “Well, everyone else at my church does it….so it must be okay.”
When we go to the grocery store to buy fruit, we don’t look at a piece of fruit and say, “Oh, this one only has a few small rotten parts on it – i’ll take it!” No, we look for one that has NO rotten parts on it. And, when we are comparing our lives with other lives – the ONLY life we should be comparing ourselves to is the life of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Himself said in John 13:15, “For I have given you an example, that you also should do just as I have done to you.” And the Apostle Peter reminds us in 1 Peter 2:21-22, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.” THAT is the life we’re supposed to compare ourselves to!
Yes, we will never reach Christ’s level of perfection in this world, but that should be our goal – to strive to become more like Him! The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:11, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.” He was telling the church at Corinth, “Follow me ONLY AS LONG AS I FOLLOW CHRIST!”
We can always find “Christians” who are less “spiritual” than ourselves, and as long as we look for those kind of people to compare ourselves too, we can make ourselves out to look pretty good. But that’s not the point – the point is to compare ourselves to Jesus Christ, and THEN, we see we ALWAYS have room for improvment, because we are NOTHING compared to Him!