Protecting Your Marriage: Avoiding the Comparison Trap

One of the things that I love about the Apostle Paul as we read about him in the New Testament, is that he was always content. Content in prison, content out of prison. Content if he lived, content if he died. He was shipwrecked and bitten by a poisonous snake; still content. It’s a quality I admire that I believe is available to all of us, though it does not come easily for most of us. Most, if not all, of what we know about Paul’s contentment is based on his circumstances - prison, snakes, living, or dying.

Even though we are not given insight into this, my guess is that Paul was content in the other areas of his life too. I just don’t see him making comparisons. When his neighbor got the newest and best model chariot, I think he rejoiced with them. When he entered a town and was entertained in someone’s nice home, I don’t think he was resentful that he did not even have a place to call home.  

Paul sets a pretty high standard in the area of contentment. If we accept and embrace our life, we can be content too. If we resist the temptation to compare our life, house, cars, kids, etc., we can be content. In actuality, the comparison road leads to despair and unhappiness. It's not a fun road to be on. So let’s try this. Next time we are online and scrolling through posts, instead of comparing, what about being thankful and rejoicing? Be thankful for what you have and rejoice with others in what they have. That will definitely make a difference.