Without Rival With Lisa BevereExemplo

A life of contentment exposes the truth about comparison—it is nothing but a distraction. If you’re anything like me, you’ve believed the lies that another woman’s beauty takes away from yours. A classmate’s intelligence diminishes yours. A co-worker’s pay raise minimizes your financial blessings.

Often in our human attempts to make all things fair, we are tempted to think that God loves us all the same. But same just isn’t big enough. The word same implies that we might be somehow replaceable or interchangeable. Like, “Oh no, I broke one of the purple glasses I bought at Target last week; I hope they still have the same ones in stock.”

This doesn’t work for God.

One afternoon as I was dozing off for a nap, I heard the Holy Spirit whisper, “I do not love my children equally.” Where did this blasphemous thought come from? I blurted out, “You have to love us the same or else it wouldn’t be fair.”

My protest was answered with, “I don’t. Equal implies my love can be measured, and I assure you … it cannot. Same would mean my children are replaceable or interchangeable, and they are not. My heart is not divided into compartments. No one could take the place of or displace another in my heart. For you see, I don’t love my children equally, I love them uniquely.”

Take a deep breath and listen. Our Father’s love cannot be likened to a pan of brownies that is painstakingly cut by a loving parent into equal portions so that no child feels slighted. His marvelous love is not subject to portion control—it is infinite, intimate, and unique. And you are uniquely loved because you were uniquely created.

Unique means “without equal or rival.” Our Father God stands alone without rival, so we shouldn’t be surprised that in His eyes we are daughters without rival, which eliminates every reason that we should ever compete with one another.

Together we’re going to discover how to be our full selves. We’re going to stop comparing ourselves with others because comparison is not the source of inspiration. Comparison is cheating us and this earth of who we truly are.

You are the beginning and the end of you. There is no rival for the way you express His love to others or for how He expresses His love to you.