⁴ Let each person examine his own work, and then he can take pride in himself alone, and not compare himself with someone else. (Galatians 6:4 CSB)

There is a cartoon I saw recently that began with a man driving a very nice car looking at someone in an even nicer car and saying “man that is nice, I wish I had that,” Zooming out a bit there is a man on a bicycle looking at the man in the car, saying “man, I wish I had a car to drive.” This went down and down until there was a man in a wheelchair watching another walk, saying “I wish I could walk.”

No matter where you are in life and what your situation might be, there are those better off and those worse off. Sadly, our little bubble of vision seems to only show us what we do not have. We never look away from the thing we want and back to the one who needs more.

This human comparison can be a byproduct of necessity depending on where you are, but more often it is a byproduct of pride.

Ambition is not a bad thing in itself. It can motivate us to do more and be more. However, ambition often gets taken over by pride and our striving has no end. It has a variations appetite.

However, our scripture takes a different look at pride. It looks inwardly to examine our own work, especially that we do for God, and to take pride in how we are achieving in God’s eyes. This inward reflection can speak volumes to how we are truly doing in life.