3 If anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. 4 Each one should test his own actions. Then he can take pride in himself, without comparing himself to somebody else, 5 for each one should carry his own load.
3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. 4 Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. 7 If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; 8 if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. 14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise.
3 You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere men? 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9 For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
27 To this John replied, “A man can receive only what is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ 29 The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. 30 He must become greater; I must become less. 31 The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all.”
25 “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?” says the Holy One.
8 Among the gods there is none like you, O Lord; no deeds can compare with yours. 9 All the nations you have made will come and worship before you, O Lord; they will bring glory to your name. 10 For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
“Turns out it doesn’t matter a hill of beans how old you are, how wise you are, or how you’re sitting pretty - the more you let yourself compete and compare, the more you forget your own calling. I’d seen it, the women with their big handbags and big hopes: The more you push to get in front of others, the more you fall behind in being the best you can be.” Ann Voskamp
“Paul’s opponents (and any who sided with them) could be censured on several counts. The first was the inadequate standard by which they evaluated themselves. The false apostles compared themselves not with the divine standard exemplified by Christ but with other men, using human standards. In doing so, Paul said, no matter how much they vaunted their human wisdom they showed themselves to be not wise, but fools.” Bible Knowledge Commentary
“Most (if not all) encounters in Scripture with God (or even His angels) and man have left men jaw dropping and prostrate. When sinful flesh encounters total purity the normal cry is ‘Woe, Woe, Woe is me’ as Isaiah stated. God is so totally other. There is none like Him. None to compare. None. He is not our buddy, our pal, or our Santa Clause or magic Genie for that matter. He does not exist to do our bidding – indeed, that is what we exist for – to do His. We have flipped this to our own destruction and harm. He is loving and good but as C. S. Lewis writes, ‘He is not safe’ when we willingly choose to walk in disobedience to His ways. We are in dire need of a proper view of God as demonstrated perfectly in His Word. Never neglect it.” BHY
“Christ, when he blesses, blesses not in word only, but in deed. The lips of truth cannot promise more: ‘No matter how athletic, slim, handsome or pretty, intelligent, well-read, respected, connected, funny, wealthy, or religious we are, if we anchor our worth in these things instead of in the smile of God over us, these things will eventually wreck us.’ The only esteem that won’t abandon us is the esteem given to us by Jesus. Because only in Jesus are we fully known and always loved, thoroughly exposed yet never rejected. Only Jesus will repeatedly forgive us when we fail Him.Only Jesus will declare His affection for us when we are at our very worst as well as at our very best. Only in Jesus can we return to that blessed Edenic state of being naked and without shame. The quest for self-esteem is, deep down, an attempt to silence negative verdicts that assault us from the outside and from within. In Jesus, the Second Adam, the negative verdicts from the outside and from within are made powerless. There is now no condemnation for those who are in Him. In Jesus, we no longer have anything to fear, prove, or hide. There’s no need to self-medicate. There’s no need to self-promote or to drop names at parties.There’s no need to compare or compete. There’s no need to wear ourselves down by chasing career or applause or respect or being able to fit into a size four. We are not called to be perfectly awesome. We are called to be imperfectly faithful, because we have been perfectly loved, liberated, and highly esteemed by the Most High. It is said that Buddha’s dying words were, ‘Strive without ceasing.’ Jesus’ dying words were, ‘It is finished. ’ Give me Jesus. Our souls are glory-vacuums, fearfully and wonderfully made for an Esteem greater than self. And He esteems us much. The One who made the galaxies with His breath has said so.” Scott Sauls
“You are incomparably made, uniquely loved, and powerfully purposed. God's promises for you are without rival, and His plans for you are beyond compare. Perhaps you've felt like you've veered off course, but God's pursuit of us is greater than our ability to wander. If you think you've blown God's plan for your life, rest in this: You, my beautiful friend, are not that powerful. He is a God of restoration and redemption, and He makes all things new.” Lisa Bevere
“One of the greatest lies we believe is that it is better to be accepted by the group than to stand alone for being different. Yet being different is one of the core attributes of God Himself. God is holy. He is different and set apart from all of His creation. We cannot compare Him to anyone or anything else. Our human goodness can never reach anywhere near God's perfection. God said, "'To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?' says the Holy One" (Isaiah 40:25). God wants all of His children to be different just like He is different. "It is God's will that you should be sanctified" (1 Thessalonians 4:3). God calls us to be different from the world, to stand against the immorality of our culture, to set ourselves apart from the secular.” Michael Youssef
“We are generally left with two feelings when we play the comparison game with others – we either feel worse about ourselves or pridefully better about ourselves – neither brings out the best God has desired for the lives of His children. We are all ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ (Psalms 139:14). There are purposes and plans for each of our lives which are plans to prosper and not harm and give hope (Jeremiah 29:11). We are each loved with an everlasting love and drawn with cords of loving kindness (Jeremiah 31:3). The man is blessed who makes the Lord his trust and does not look to the proud (Psalms 40:4). Every child of the King is blessed and fulfilled when they are standing firm in all the will of God, mature and fully assured (Colossians 4:12). We are to live our lives for an audience of One – seeking to please our Master (which indeed always pleases us as one never outgives God), through His power, for His glory, for our good. So we make it our goal to please Him (2 Corinthians 5:9). The beloved rests secure in Him for He shields him all day long and the one the Lord loves rests between His shoulders (Deuteronomy 33:12). He is more than sufficient to meet every inner need and desire of our hearts and to use our lives for His glory, which btw is what we were all created for.” BHY