Stop Comparing: When Everyone Else Seems Ahead and You're Tired of Keeping ScoreSample

DAY 1: KEEPING SCORE

I have a teenage daughter, and once she hit junior high, I started seeing something emerge in her that I knew was a big problem.

If you’ve ever had a teenage daughter, you might have seen it too.

She began comparing herself almost relentlessly to other girls.

And her friends would do the same thing.

For example, my daughter has fabulously curly hair – but she absolutely hates it. Meanwhile, her friends with straight hair are jealous of her curls.

I’ve heard this exchange, or some version of it, 100 times.

“Oh my gosh. I wish I had your hair.”
“Are you kidding? I would die for yours.”

This is a thing.

And apparently, it’s a tale as old as time.

From her first scene in the Biblical story, Rachel is defined by being the beautiful one. The desired one — "Rachel had a lovely figure and was beautiful." (Genesis 29:17 NIV)

She is the sister Jacob chose.

By the world's scoreboard, she's winning.

And this is one of the lessons about life. The scoreboard is always running, isn't it? And I bet you have a scoreboard, too.

That person is more settled.
That guy over there is further along.
That person’s life looks like the one you wish you had.

Comparison is not new. It’s old. It’s older than Instagram. Older than the cover of Cosmo. As the story of Rachel shows us, it’s right here at the start of the Bible.

And yet, as we'll see, being ahead on the surface didn't make Rachel secure. The comparison just ran in a different direction.

WHAT IT SHOWS ABOUT GOD
I love how the Bible is searingly honest about life. It states a real reality: beauty and status are real currencies in our world.

But the Bible is equally honest— beauty and status also don't deliver what we think they will.

The story of Rachel shows us that God's activity in her life is certainly not contingent on her beauty in any way.

The scoreboard you're watching is not the one God is keeping.

REFLECTION QUESTION
Where do you most feel "behind" or "ahead" right now? Whose life are you quietly measuring yours against? Write down the scoreboard you're running — just naming it loosens its grip.

PRAYER
God, I'm tired of keeping score. I measure my life against people who aren't even living it. Quiet the scoreboard in me, and help me see my life through Your eyes today. Amen.

FREE RESOURCE!
To help you consider how you might be fruitful and use your talents for God, we’ve designed a quiz that reveals a Bible character you most resemble. Find it here: bq.fortt.com

Also, if this plan encouraged you, follow David Tieche and Jon Fortt on YouVersion to be first to see our next plan.

NEXT →
Next up. Rachel is winning by every measure that matters — and it still isn't enough. Tomorrow, we'll see what happens when "I wish I had that" becomes something darker.