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Is Comparison Always Wrong? What the Bible Says About Comparing Yourself to Others
“Comparison is the thief of joy” is a common saying. I’m not sure who first said it, but the sentiment certainly resonates. We all know from experience that certain kinds of comparison can quickly produce envy, pride, discouragement, or discontent. But does that mean all comparison is wrong? To think through that question, I ran a quick Bible search through the New Testament for comparative adjectives—183 of them, to be precise. Rather than survey every occurrence, I want to highlight several examples from Matthew that help us think more carefully about comparison. Comparison in Itself Is Not Wrong The first comparative adjective in the New Testament comes from John the Baptist, who acknowledges that someone is coming after him “who is mightier than I” (Matt 3:11). John compares himself with Jesus and recognizes Jesus’ superiority. Similarly, in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus asks, “Is not life more than food,…
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Jealousy is Not Always Wrong
Paul labels jealousy as a work of the flesh in Galatians 5:20, and we ought to view jealousy as a wicked sin. However, some people might assume jealousy is always a sin. But there are times jealousy is not a sin. Yes, you read that accurately—jealousy is not always a sin! In fact, jealousy can sometimes be good. If that surprises you, then we definitely need to look at the biblical evidence. A Deeper Look at the Concept of Jealousy We tend to think of jealousy (sometimes used as a synonym for envy) as wanting what someone else has or being resentful of them (and that is wrong). However, in biblical language the Hebrew and Greek words for jealousy are often synonymous for the idea of zeal. For example, in Psalm 69:10 the psalmist says, “Zeal for your house has consumed me.” Yet the same word can be used for…