You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male servant, or his female servant, or his ox, or his donkey or anything that is your neighbor’s Exodus 20:17
As Christians we often think about or even discuss the need to be content, especially around Thanksgiving. We are reminded of Paul’s comments about learning to be content in abundance and in want. We know that it is pretty important to be thankful for what we have and not to compare because God works in the command not to covet into the Ten Commandments. Yet it can be a real struggle, hence our thinking and talking about the subject.
Often when struggling with discontentment it is a result of comparing our lot in life against another person’s. We compare our financial, beauty, fertility, job, family, talent lot in life against another person’s whose is seemingly better. We are “comparing up”, well what we perceive as up. We feel badly, we feel down, we feel less than, we feel bitter, we feel jealous (of course we are “good Christians” and don’t voice this, at least not directly) and our anecdote to the situation is to compare again. This time we “compare down”. Okay I am not in the financial situation I want to be in, but at least I am doing better than that person, we tell ourselves. Or, my kids are not behaving like I want them to, but at least they don’t behave like so and so’s child. You can fill in the blank. I am not or have not __________ compared to this person or these people, but I can be thankful that I __________ in comparison to this other person or these other people.
This is not the Godly response that we should have! We should not battle discontentment and/or covetness by “comparing down” and then being thankful that we have it better than another person. How selfish and uncaring we are being when we do so (sadly, this is directed just as much at me). Rather shouldn’t we learn to trust God in regards to our lot in life in all things, that we need not look down on another for affirmation and comfort. That instead we should love our neighbor better than we love ourselves. That our thoughts for our neighbor would be for their good and not our own. The anecdote to discontentment and jealousy is not to “compare down”, aka. be thankful that our situation is better than so and so’s, but rather it is not to compare at all, but to trust. Instead let’s trust that God works all things for the good of his children and that each and every circumstance in our lives is meant just for that. Good does not mean success by wordly standards, but success by God’s (our sanctification and fruitfulness), because isn’t that what we should desire most after all? Then, like Paul, we can truly be content and thankful regardless. This is where real peace is and who doesn’t want more peace?
Happy Thanksgiving week!
Lauren
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