The Importance of Being You
By Rick Warren
"It's healthy to be content, but envy can eat you up.” Proverbs 14:30 (CEV)
To live an abundant life that overflows with God’s goodness, the first thing you need to do is start being grateful and stop complaining. The second thing you need to do is start being content and stop comparing.
God made you to be you. He doesn't want you to be anybody else! When you compare yourself to other people, you get envious and resentful, and you might even start to copy them.
But God has never made a clone. God only makes originals. Even identical twins are different in thousands of ways. If you won’t be you, then who will be you?
The truth is that comparing only gets you in trouble. When you compare your looks, your grades, your spouse, your career, or your kids, it causes two problems.
One, you get full of discouragement, because you can always find someone who's doing a better job than you—someone who is better looking, makes more money, or has more talent. And two, you get full of pride. Why? Because you can always find someone who’s not doing as good a job as you.
The Bible says, “It is better to be content with what little you have. Otherwise, you will always be struggling for more, and that is like chasing the wind” Ecclesiastes 4:6 (NCV).
Because of social media, it's easier than ever to compare yourself to others. When you see posts every day that shout, “Look at me! Look what I can do! Look what I’ve got!” it can draw you into a state of envy and discontent. It can even cause you to try to impress others with your own posts. But the thing is, you don’t have to impress anyone. A key to living a life overflowing with joy is to just be yourself, content with who God made you to be.
Are you tired of feeling overwhelmed? Do you want to be spiritually and emotionally healthy? The Bible says, "It's healthy to be content, but envy can eat you up” (Proverbs 14:30 CEV).
Contentment comes when you enjoy what you have rather than waiting for something else to make you happy. Stop comparing yourself to other people, and start being content with what God has given you—and then watch your joy overflow!
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This devotional © 2018 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
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