The Comparison Game | Mind Games | Digging Deeper | Week of October 2nd

The Comparison Game | Mind Games | Week 3
Pastor Greg Carr, Executive Pastor

2 Corinthians 10:5; Romans 12:2a; John 21:15-22

1. Comparison makes me ungrateful to God.
Jeremiah 29:11

2. Comparison prevents me from accepting who I am.
1 Corinthians 12:4-6

3. Comparison causes me to resent others.

Practical Steps:
1.  Start every morning by thanking God for 5 things.
2.  Every day, remind yourself of who you are in Christ.
3.  Fill in the blanks with truth.
4.  Publicly praise the success and achievements of others.
5.  Run the race God has for you!
Hebrews 12:1

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12:1

"We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:5

1. Pastor Greg talked about some dangers of comparison in his sermon this week. His first point was that comparison makes us ungrateful to God. Why do you think this is true? 

2. Read Hebrews 12:1. What ways do you think comparison can hinder you from running the race God has set before you?

3. Have you ever had a person in your life that you compare yourself with so much that it robbed you of your peace?

4. When you think about truth and meditate on truth. It can heal lies.  Can you think of ways this has played out in your own life? 

5. Read Something to Think About. How does the comparison game rob you?

6. Read the 5 practical steps Pastor Greg laid out for us. They are listed above. Discuss these steps as a group.

Pastor Greg gave such a great sermon about comparison on Sunday. He sent me his notes so I could go over them for Digging Deeper, and when I was reading them I had this thought, “comparison robs us from the fruit of the Spirit that the Holy Spirit enables us to bear.” This fruit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, distinguishes us from unbelievers.

These are also, very simply put, super precious gifts. Who doesn’t want to be filled with peace, joy, and love? When we allow our minds to go down the rabbit hole of comparison, this fruit is not active during that time and it gets replaced with things that are destructive to our souls: jealousy, envy, self-hatred, etc.

In his message, Pastor Greg read 2 Corinthians 10:5, which says, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” When you find yourself in this comparison game, stop and pause. Take those thoughts captive, and give them back to God. Sometimes this looks like a prayer, “God, I thank you that you made me unique and set apart for a purpose. I give you these thoughts about Mary. Please bless her, and please give me your love for her.”

Sometimes, more processing is needed to get to the root of these thoughts.  That could look like journaling and asking some good questions. Why do Mary’s gifts upset me? Why does being around Mary cause these emotions in me? We have all struggled with comparison at different times in our life. Comparison goes all the way back to the beginning with Cain and Abel which ended in murder. The devil has been trying to trap us with this for thousands of years. Even the disciples found themselves in this comparison game, asking Jesus who was going to be the greatest. For sure comparison will raise its ugly head in our lives.

Pastor Greg gave 5 practical steps that can help us with our mindset.  I would encourage you all to incorporate these steps into your daily devotions this week. They are listed above. I love you guys and I am excited to hear your testimonies about taking your thoughts captive in the different areas we have been learning about in this series on Mind Games. I am cheering for you all.  

Blessings,
Christie Braun