Do you ever become discouraged when you try to measure your success? When life gets challenging, I’m often tempted to give up, especially when I try to measure my success by someone else’s accomplishments.
Comparing myself to others. Falling for the comparison trap not only damages my sense of self-worth, it can harm my relationship with others. If I focus on my inability to measure up to the successes of others, I’m often tempted to become discouraged, angry, and even depressed.
I know I’m not the only woman who judges myself by others around me. When I fall for the lie that I’m not as smart, successful, or attractive as someone else, it can pull me into self-pity or self-loathing. That’s when I need to be prepare to speak truth to my soul to survive the onslaught of negative thoughts.
Facing tough times or negative thoughts? In Matthew 10, Jesus encouraged his disciples as He prepared to send them out to serve others.
[Don’t] quit. Don’t cave in. It is all well worth it in the end. It is not success you are after in such times but survival. Be survivors! (Matthew 10:22-23 MSG).
Jesus knew his followers would face tough times. And He knew that they would need to focus on surviving during their most difficult days and not judge themselves too harshly.
Focus on surviving! This passage in Matthew encourages me to allow myself the privilege of focusing on my survival during a crisis instead of trying to analyze the situation to find some underlying purpose or judge myself according to some standard of perfection or success.
Forgiveness and grace. Not only do I need to give grace to others when they are in a crisis, but I also need to offer that same grace and forgiveness to myself.
Can you think of a time when you needed to focus on survival rather than your success?
