“Don't compare yourself with anyone in this world...if you do so, you are insulting yourself.” -Bill Gates
Now that's a powerful statement! But I think even Paul the Apostle said it better in 2 Corinthians 10:12 NLT "Oh, don't worry; we wouldn't dare say that we are as wonderful as these other men who tell you how important they are! But they are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant!"
Well said Paul! I spent quite a bit of my life comparing my worth to other people's achievements and always found myself lacking and if that's the standard that I must live up to them my sum total will always be "0"! That's because if I'm constantly comparing myself to someone else then I'm trying to measure up to an idol of unrealistic expectation! What I'm saying is that at best I will always be a cheap imitation of an original.
That's why I've never been to a show featuring people trying to perform like other people, such as Elvis impersonators! You can never find your identity in who someone else WAS! While I know it must be fun to reminisce and clap along with an old favorite, it lacks the luster of the original and it always will.
The original you is who you were created to be! There is an original plan that Father God designed just for you that can't be compared with ANYONE else! Jeremiah 29:11 says "I know the plans I have for YOU!" He has an master plan for you and me that cannot be altered or adjusted and as long as we compare ourselves to other folks lives then we will never discover our "re-creation reality". Because of sins entrance to the world the original reality of who you were created to be, which is a direct expression of God's personality, was stripped from our DNA and must be discovered in the New Birth of our life in Christ.
Paul stated in Ephesians 2:10 AMP "For we are God’s [own] handiwork (His workmanship), [a]recreated in Christ Jesus, [born anew] that we may do those good works which God predestined (planned beforehand) for us [taking paths which He prepared ahead of time], that we should walk in them [living the good life which He prearranged and made ready for us to live]."
Do you see it?!? We are re-created in His image and actually our Spirit man is re-aligned with First Creation Realities! We enter into the opportunity that we never had apart from Jesus, which is to discover our purpose, our identity and our unique signature of life that can only come through a union with the one who bought back our true identity! When Jesus died and rose again He gave us the opportunity to find out what Papa God was thinking about us before the fall of man. That code for our life is in His DNA and when we say yes to His love it becomes our DNA. Everything you need is in you now for a bright future.
This is an expression that can't be sounded in the deepest sea, it can't be put in a box or explained away. Our identity beckons to be lived out and in that physical correspondence to the grace of God we discover everyday our Jesus Nature! By the power of Holy Spirit, He expresses Jesus through us, but it can't happen to the fullest extent of God's desire without Holy Spirit's involvement and our relinquishing control of our own lives.
It's a big statement to say that people can't walk in the fullness of who God created them to be with Holy Spirit, but I'm not the first to say it. One of the last things Jesus said to the disciples in Acts1:4 was "And while being in their company and eating with them, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for what the Father had promised, Of which [He said] you have heard Me speak." So the questions begs to be asked, why not leave Jerusalem without this gift?
Because when they left they would be testifying of the Gospel of Jesus and He wanted them baptized in that same power He lived in. It's also because it was the promise of Holy Spirit, the Great helper, the Great comforter, the Phenomenal teacher and the express power of the God-head sent to empower men to thrive on the earth as Jesus. He is the exact infusion of God in your life that propels you beyond comparison with others and makes you well... you!
Whoa! That's the key, that's the unraveling of the strain to be like other people! Doesn't that make sense? Doesn't that bring hope? It does to me and it brings a great freedom to receive approval from Father God and stop seeking it from insufficient sources. You are a masterpiece, an express image of God in the earth and the earth is crying out for the children of God to be revealed, for you to be revealed! The wonderful thing is that your key to freedom is the awakening someone else needs to break free as well.
So be all you're created to be in the power of Holy Spirit on your life!
Hope this helps!
Barry