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Being Content vs. Comparing
June 26, 2008
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-- Life is like Hot Chocolate
-- Jesus Teaches on the Kingdom of Heaven
-- Are You a "Good" Person?
-- Reprint Guidelines
Greetings! One of the most spiritually debilitating mindsets I see is that of comparing yourself/family to others. I see this so frequently. It gets to the point that with some people I cannot even have a smooth conversation with them. My Dad emailed me the following story and I am using it in this month's Big Picture because it follows God's word as well. First we will read this short story and then take a look at what Jesus taught us about wanting what others have and comparing yourself to others. |
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Life is like Hot Chocolate ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A group of graduates, well established in
their careers, were talking at a reunion and
decided to go visit their old university
professor, now retired. During their visit, the
conversation turned to complaints about
stress in their work and lives. Offering his
guests hot chocolate, the professor went into
the kitchen and returned with a large pot of
hot chocolate and an assortment of cups -
porcelain, glass, crystal, some plain looking,
some expensive, some exquisite - telling
them to help themselves to the hot
chocolate.
When they all had a cup of hot chocolate in hand, the professor said, 'Notice that all the nice looking, expensive cups were taken, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. The cup that you're drinking from adds nothing to the quality of the hot chocolate. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was hot chocolate, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups...and then you began eyeing each other's cups. Now consider this: Life is the hot chocolate; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain life. The cup you have does not define, nor change the quality of life you have. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the hot chocolate God has provided us. God makes the hot chocolate, man chooses the cups. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything that they have. Live simply (1 Thessalonians 4:10). Love generously (1 Corinthians 13). Care deeply (Matthew 25:31-46). Speak kindly (Proverbs 16:24). And enjoy your hot chocolate (Ecclesiastes 5:18, 9:9)!
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Jesus Teaches on the Kingdom of Heaven ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Matthew 20:1-16 - "For the
kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who
went out early in the morning to hire laborers
for his vineyard. 'When he had agreed with
the laborers for a denarius for the day, he
sent them into his vineyard. "And he went out
about the third hour and saw others standing
idle in the market place; and to those he
said, 'You also go into the vineyard, and
whatever is right I will give you.' And so they
went. "Again he went out about the sixth and
the ninth hour, and did the same thing. "And
about the eleventh hour he went out and
found others standing around; and he said to
them, 'Why have you been standing here idle
all day long?' "They said to him, 'Because no
one hired us.' He said to them, 'You go into
the vineyard too.' "When evening came, the
owner of the vineyard said to his
foreman, 'Call the laborers and pay them
their wages, beginning with the last group to
the first.' "When those hired about the
eleventh hour came, each one received a
denarius. "When those hired first came, they
thought that they would receive more; but
each of them also received a
denarius. "When they received it, they
grumbled at the landowner, saying, 'These
last men have worked only one hour, and you
have made them equal to us who have borne
the burden and the scorching heat of the
day.' "But he answered and said to one of
them, 'Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did
you not agree with me for a denarius? 'Take
what is yours and go, but I wish to give to this
last man the same as to you. 'Is it not lawful
for me to do what I wish with what is my
own? Should you be jealous because I am
kind to others?' "So the last shall be first, and
the first last."
We really cripple our ability to walk with God, enjoy His peace, and encourage others when we are constantly in a state of comparing ourselves to others. Be happy for others and remember that your identity is in Christ! Some people I know are so comparison oriented that they are like heroin addicts; meaning that it is going to take them a long process to work through this mindset assuming they even recognize it as a colossal evil in their life. God can do it but for some folks they are in deep with this thought pattern because of their obsession with self glory and being deceived by Satan's lies. What you and I have does not make us better or worse than someone else. Jesus said, "it is not what goes into our mouths that defile us but what comes out". You probably think you believe all of this; I know you agree with it. But let's pay attention to what comes out of our mouth and our thoughts about this topic as a way to self examine.
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Are You a "Good" Person? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Are you a "good" person?
Click here or on the icon
to take the test.
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Reprint Guidelines ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Permission to reprint this article is
granted,
provided you email me where it is
being
reprinted,
the copyright is not removed, and the
following text
accompanies each article:Thomas Cloud, Jr. specializes in financial planning and investment management based on time- tested principles taught in the Bible. His Truly Diversified Portfolios (TDP) give his clients growth of the money that has been entrusted to their care with lowered risk. For a complimentary subscription to Thomas's monthly e-newsletter go to w ww.divers ifyyourassets.com.
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