Day 18: Me vs You. It's not a competition
3 March, Day 18: Luke 1-3, 11-32
I think it's part of human nature to compare ourselves to our peers.
We compare houses, cars, jobs, children and even their achievements. We just can't help it! Some would even say its a yardstick by which we measure our lives, after all, we don't live our lives in isolation. Some would say, that this is even necessary - comparing ourselves to other people could even push us to be better or aim for higher or be more competitive.
Even when we see people who are prospering and doing "amazing" things with their lives (hello Facebook), it either irritates us (why overshare?) or makes us feeling a tiny bit envious about why are lives are not as awesome as that constantly holidaying/partying friend from school, or the hi-flying career person or the fitness freak and marathon runner who has gone to size 0 in a few months, and now has albums of photos to vouch for it(!!). Nobody likes to admit it, but it's real, however wise, Godly or far-removed from such things you are. The curse of social media, I say.
Today's verse is the parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 1-3, 11-32
Thoughts: For the uninitiated, the story goes like this.
There's a man with two songs, the younger of which asks for his share of his property, and then goes travelling. He squanders it and gets into trouble, and loses all his money. Starving and in a terrible state, he goes back to his father and asks for forgiveness. The father is overjoyed at the return of his son, and throws a big party for him to celebrate. When the older "good" son hears about this, he isn't too happy and asks why there is a great celebration for the son who wasted his life, when he himself had spent all his time being good - why no celebration for him? His father replies that his lost son has been found, hence the celebration.
You don't need to be a major sinner (the way the Prodigal Son is described in the parable) for the story to apply to you.
The obvious takeaway would be that there's hope and forgiveness for all those who are adrift. The underlying essence is that there is always hope and forgiveness, no matter what we are going through, as long as we make the decision to turn to our Father (aka God).
But, what really struck me this time after having read the story for this time is the behaviour of the envious 'good' brother, which is a very natural and human reaction. He is indignant when something good happens to his brother, and instead of feeling happy about it, he resents it.
There are times at work or play, when we feel we have done the good thing, the dutiful thing, the perfect thing. And then when somebody "less deserving" in our eyes, say at our workplace, gets the promotion or opportunity, we seethe inside and think that it should have been us instead. When we follow the right path, we tend to want praise and appreciation for doing good.
The message here is to let go off envy, and rejoice when good things happen to other people too.
Takeaway: No matter how bad things get you can always go "home" to God, as long as you turn to Him, and also, be happy when good things happen to other people.
I think it's part of human nature to compare ourselves to our peers.
We compare houses, cars, jobs, children and even their achievements. We just can't help it! Some would even say its a yardstick by which we measure our lives, after all, we don't live our lives in isolation. Some would say, that this is even necessary - comparing ourselves to other people could even push us to be better or aim for higher or be more competitive.
Even when we see people who are prospering and doing "amazing" things with their lives (hello Facebook), it either irritates us (why overshare?) or makes us feeling a tiny bit envious about why are lives are not as awesome as that constantly holidaying/partying friend from school, or the hi-flying career person or the fitness freak and marathon runner who has gone to size 0 in a few months, and now has albums of photos to vouch for it(!!). Nobody likes to admit it, but it's real, however wise, Godly or far-removed from such things you are. The curse of social media, I say.
Today's verse is the parable of the Prodigal Son from Luke 1-3, 11-32
Thoughts: For the uninitiated, the story goes like this.
There's a man with two songs, the younger of which asks for his share of his property, and then goes travelling. He squanders it and gets into trouble, and loses all his money. Starving and in a terrible state, he goes back to his father and asks for forgiveness. The father is overjoyed at the return of his son, and throws a big party for him to celebrate. When the older "good" son hears about this, he isn't too happy and asks why there is a great celebration for the son who wasted his life, when he himself had spent all his time being good - why no celebration for him? His father replies that his lost son has been found, hence the celebration.
You don't need to be a major sinner (the way the Prodigal Son is described in the parable) for the story to apply to you.
The obvious takeaway would be that there's hope and forgiveness for all those who are adrift. The underlying essence is that there is always hope and forgiveness, no matter what we are going through, as long as we make the decision to turn to our Father (aka God).
But, what really struck me this time after having read the story for this time is the behaviour of the envious 'good' brother, which is a very natural and human reaction. He is indignant when something good happens to his brother, and instead of feeling happy about it, he resents it.
There are times at work or play, when we feel we have done the good thing, the dutiful thing, the perfect thing. And then when somebody "less deserving" in our eyes, say at our workplace, gets the promotion or opportunity, we seethe inside and think that it should have been us instead. When we follow the right path, we tend to want praise and appreciation for doing good.
The message here is to let go off envy, and rejoice when good things happen to other people too.
Takeaway: No matter how bad things get you can always go "home" to God, as long as you turn to Him, and also, be happy when good things happen to other people.
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