Daily Devotional – Relative Performance

Daily Devotional

Our scripture for the Daily Devotional today is taken from 2 Timothy 3: 10-17. As we go through life, we sometimes find ourselves making comparisons to others as our measure of success: how much we make, the car we drive, the house we live in, etc. This type of relative performance measurement can be a dangerous trap since just because we are relatively better in some way doesn’t mean we are as good as we could be, or even should be.

You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, 11 persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, 13 while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, 15 and how from infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God[a] may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”

Compared to who?

I recall a friend who had felt really great about his role as a dad, as he was doing so much more in the lives of his kids than his own dad had done. Later in life, he recognized how much more he could have done as a dad to sow into the lives of his son and daughter. He recognized that the “safe place” of being relatively better was still far from being adequate. He had the wrong measure. There is only one way to measure your life and it is through the lens of God’s word.

fall scents for your home

For it is not the hearers of the Law who are righteous before God, but it is the doers of the Law who will be declared righteous. Romans 2:12

We must establish performance benchmarks in life based upon the word of God as our absolute measure. The truths found in the Bible establish absolutes in life that can be trusted and which can be a reliable point of reference for all aspects of life. We use God’s word as our measure and then we “DO IT.”

 But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts,  he will be blessed in his doing. James 1:25

Let’s Pray

Dear Heavenly Father,

Please give me the wisdom and strength to avoid relative comparisons to others, and to keep focused on You and Your word as my only true and absolute measure of how to live and how to treat others. Help me to live out what I know to be true-Your Word.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

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Daily Devotional – Relative Performance
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