PUT AWAY THE SCORE CARDS
by: Jennifer Petticoffer
You’re in the doctor’s office. The waiting room is packed. You quietly survey the room. You pick up a magazine – it’s a five-year-old Newsweek, well you forgot what happened that year anyway. You flip through the worn pages, look over the top and see…a number “7.” Yes, she would have been a number “10” if she had touched up the dark roots showing on her blond head – you feel better because you just had your hair done.
Oh, next to her is a number “5”, she must be at least twenty-five pounds overweight – you just lost two pounds and your Wii Fit tells you you’re doing great! Oh no, a number “9”, she has the purse you wanted to buy on QVC the other day! She even bought the matching shoes! She has definitely topped your Buxton bag.
Hey lady! (that includes me) Put away the score cards! Life is not a contest. As my mom would say every morning as I was leaving for school, “This is not a beauty contest! You’re going to school to learn something!” I wish I could take all of the primping hours I used in jr. high and high school and put it to doing something really constructive, like prayer, piano practice, or making a gum wrapper chain. How many “beauty contest winners” are there in life? Not many. There are only so many beauty pageants and even fewer winners. I heard of a Miss Turkey Leg pageant, now there’s one…
I have caught myself comparing myself to others in every area of my life, even the spiritual ones, like soul winning, Bible study, and serving the Lord. Hey! Why do we do this? We are basically selfish, I’m the queen of that. We take everything and put it in a self-centered perspective. How about the Lord’s perspective?
God loves all of His children equally, he doesn’t love us any less than others. Isn’t that great? He doesn’t love us any more than others either! God doesn’t judge by comparison. He judges on our response to the truth he gives to us and our own progress and potential. That’s great!
I have a photo of my sister with a group of Chinese ladies she works with at the English school. If you saw the picture you’d say, “What beautiful ladies!” or “Each one is different and has their own charming qualities!” I believe they would say the same thing about you!
When we meet another person, no matter what their age, looks, or background, why don’t we think, “There’s a perfect creation of God. They are precious to God, and they need to be precious to me.” Meekness is meeting every human on level ground. Humility is knowing our level ground is nothing compared to God’s holiness.
Let’s put the scorecards away and just love people and give ourselves a break from this “dog-eat-dog” world philosophy of grading the outward appearance.
2 Corinthians 10:12-18
“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. But we will not boast of things without our measure, but according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure, as though we reached not unto you: for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ: Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men’s labours; but having hope, when your faith is increased, that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly, To preach the gospel in the regions beyond you, and not to boast in another man’s line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth.”