Comparison
kills spiritual growth. A mother with
three preschool–age children hears her pastor talk about loving God so much
that he is up very early every morning to spend an hour of quiet with him. She would love an hour of quiet at any time,
but her children simply will not cooperate.
What she takes away is that she ought to be doing the same thing, and so
she does spirituality by comparison, living under a cloud of guilt. It never occurs to her that the love she
expresses to her children might “count” as a spiritual activity. It never occurs to her that perhaps she is
serving God more faithfully than the very pastor who may be neglecting his wife
and children in the morning so he can have that hour of quiet.
A
gregarious, spontaneous husband is married to a woman who loves to be
alone. Solitude comes easily for her:
she would have to become more extroverted just to be a hermit. He feels he is a failure at prayer because he
cannot be alone the way she can. It
never occurs to him that his ability to love people “counts,” that the way he
loves people is shaping his soul and delighting God.
Henri
Nouwen wrote, “Spiritual greatness has nothing to do with being greater than
others. It has everything to do with
being as great as each of us can be.”
Each
of us has a me that we think we should
be, which is at odds with the me that God made
us to be.
-- John Ortberg in The
Me I Want to Be
#3479
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