Are you battling with envy, pride, fear, ingratitude, competition, being unloving
toward others? Do you feel like God has cheated you out of something in life, and has given it
to somebody else? In this short video on the trap of comparison, I believe the Lord's gonna
bring clarity, as well as freedom, into your life. But before we dive into this content, I want to
welcome you. Thank you for watching this and don't forget to subscribe if it's your first time. And
if you are a regular, hey don't forget to click on the bell so you can be reminded each time that we
go live. And then hit like to this video. It will help with the algorithm. Theodore Roosevelt said
that comparison is a thief of joy. Comparison leads to complaining. When you start comparing,
you will start complaining about your life. Comparison steals your contentment. Comparison
will kill your productivity; your confidence. It will breed complacency. Comparison it will
create contempt. In the epistles of Paul second Corinthians chapter 10 verse 12, it says, "For we
dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they measuring
themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise." Comparison is
not wise. Comparison will lead to a lot of crazy things. In the Bible, the tenth commandment says,
"Thou shalt not covet." And I don't think you can covet until you first fall into the comparison
trap. One of my favorite stories that have helped me to navigate this emotional drama or comparison,
and I struggle with this. Honestly, I think everyone does. Sometimes looking at other
ministers who are more gifted. Some people who are doing this that, I feel like man, "I should be
doing that too!" Or feel like they have this gift, or they have this opportunity, that I need to now
do as well. Or why am I not getting that what they're getting? Sometimes we compare ourselves.
You know our body to somebody else's body. Compare our marriage. Compare our house. Compare our job,
our calling, our career, or compare our past. And all of this is not wise. When Jesus was about to
be ascended and go into heaven, He met with his disciples. And you know, He reconciled Peter by
asking him, "Do you love me?" three times. It kind of drove Peter a little bit crazy,
and then he told Peter about his future. He told him about his destiny. And it wasn't one of those
prophetic words that, honestly, Peter was really excited about. It wasn't one of those things that
Peter got when he just got into Jesus's team, and Jesus says, "You will become a fisherman of
all men, and you're gonna catch fish. You're gonna be this great guy. I'm gonna build my church and
you're the rock, you know, like you're the man." This prophetic word a picture of his future,
looked a lot more gloomy. A lot more, um, doom and gloom; death. Pretty much Jesus told Peter
you're gonna die by crucifixion. Somebody is going to take you to a place, stretch your arms,
and you're not gonna like it. And Peter, hearing that, the scripture says that, "He turned around,
saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper
and said, "Lord who is the one who betrays You?" And Peter looked at the disciple and says, "Jesus
what about him?" Like okay, I get it. I'm gonna die but what about Johnny? Like is John gonna
die too? And Jesus looks at Peter and He says, "Uh what if I want him to remain until I come?
What is that to you? You, follow me." Now Jesus wasn't saying that John is not going to suffer,
but He was saying, "What if I don't want John to suffer? Do you have a problem with that? Do
you have a problem with the fact that John is going to die differently than you will? Do you
have a problem with the fact that John will write the book of Revelation, three epistles of John,
the gospel of John, but you're gonna only write two epistles? Do you have a problem that I will
reveal the future? The whole apocalyptic events to John but not to you Peter? Do you have a problem
with that? Do you have a problem with that, and if you do, you, follow me." I want to draw a few
points, that honestly, have been serving really well. We have to deal with this. What do you do
when you have to pay a price, and it seems like John gets all the perks? It seems like Peter is
going to suffer for Jesus and John is getting all the perks. Seems like John is getting the access,
but Peter is going to get the attacks. John is going to get all the perks, Peter gets the pain.
John seems to get all the answers. Jesus who's the guy who will betray you? But Peter keeps getting
questions. Peter do you love me? Peter do you love me? Peter do you love me? John gets the secrets,
but Peter gets the sacrifice. Have you ever had John in your life? Where it seems like God has
more favor on them, and they do less. They seem to just be always in Jesus's breast and getting
all the secrets, getting all the answers and, but, you're the one that gets all the pain. You're the
one that gets all the suffering. Like, but, for you, it's like it's harder. You're gonna get the
cross and John seems to get the crown. What do you do then? I want to share with you a few practical
tips, and how not to fall into comparison trap. Don't compare your pain with someone else's
perks. Don't compare your pain. Come on somebody! Drop that in the comment. Don't compare your pain
with someone else's perks. If you do that, you will lose your passion for Jesus. You will lose
your perspective, and you will eventually stop pursuing Jesus, because comparison is a trap.
You can't compare your process with someone else's perks. With someone else's promise. With
someone else's blessing. Your battles with someone else's blessings. Your burden with someone else's
blessings. You have to look to Jesus. Look what Jesus told Peter, "You, follow me." Another thing
I want to mention. If the enemy cannot make you turn back, he will make you turn around. You know
when Jesus told Peter, "This is how you're going to die." Peter turned around at everybody and then
said, "What about John?" See, sometimes the devil will work hard to get us back to our past, but he
will not be successful. So if he can't make you go back to your past sinful life, he will want you to
become obsessed with what everybody else is doing, or not doing around you. How God is blessing other
people, but seems to skip you. Seems like God is withholding and cheating you on all the blessings.
In Malachi it says that, "We see the wicked and the blessed, but we we've been praying,
we've been fasting, and God seems to not reward us for that." See that's the tactic. That's the trap
of comparison. When you are looking around. When the enemy couldn't make you look back, but he made
you look around, and you're no longer looking at Jesus running a race looking on the author and the
finisher of your faith. You're looking at all the runners who are either faster or slower than you,
and you're getting false encouragement. Or you're getting, actually, discouragement because
they're a lot faster, and it seems like you're missing out. It's a trap and you have to rebel.
You have to turn against the devil and say, "Devil you get behind me! You are a stumbling block to
me! You are an offense to me! Why? Because you are mindful of the things of men, not of the things of
God. Why? Because devil, you have shifted my focus and my perspective from Jesus to other people."
Another thing is, my friend, it's not really your business what God does in someone else's life. Now
you can be inspired by it. You can learn from it. But, honestly, God has a dealing with every
person. God works with every person, and never think that the person who's getting the perks,
never had to go through the process. It may look like that from a distance,
but every person is fighting a battle. Every person is going through something. Trust me,
every person is. The most successful people in your mind, are still struggling. Yes,
they might not be struggling with your struggle or my struggle, but they are struggling. Don't
be fooled by the smiles on Facebook. Don't be deceived by their vacations, by their houses, but
how big and grand and everything joyful is. All of that is a facade. All of that is not real. We're
still the same humans at the end of the day. We still walk on two legs. We still have one heart,
and we still battle with flesh, the world, and the devil. And no matter what people achieve in life,
they can't escape the fact that we live on the cursed Earth. We're still battling pain, sickness,
suffering, and sin, and we still need Jesus, and we still need the Holy Spirit to help us walk
through every single challenge in life. Remember you did not sign up to be like John. So stop
comparing yourself to John. You didn't decide to follow John. Jesus recruited you as His follower.
Therefore, it doesn't matter how John follows Jesus. You, follow me. Jesus is telling that
to you right now. At first He told Peter, "Follow me, Peter." And when Peter started looking around,
Jesus repeats these words but, He adds one word. He says, "You, follow me." Lucy, you, follow me.
John, you, follow me. Gerardo, you, follow me. Juan, you, follow me. Sarah, you, follow me. You,
yep right there. You, follow me. You're not following them. They're not your savior, I Am
your savior, says the Lord. Follow me. Please me. Seek to please Me alone, and may your life bring
glory to My name. That's the point of life. Not to measure ourselves by other people's standards,
or successes, or failures, or feel bad because we are on a different chapter. We are on a different
season than they are. We don't have the same body, gifts, talents, opportunities. My friend,
you can't make the best of what God has given to you, as long as you're looking
at everybody else's business. As long as you're letting the root of envy, lack of contentment,
jealousy, take root in your heart. I struggled with this. Honestly, I still struggle with this.
It's a constant battle. At first, I battled with, you know, why was I born with this kind of a
face? You know, I wanted to be like somebody else, and then, I met some of those somebody else
that I wanted to be like. And I realized they did not like themselves either. So I realized
that this is not a solution for me to have their face, because they also have problems. and then,
when I started to, you know, excel in ministry. I started to meet other people who are way ahead.
Who are way better at so many places. Like, and it's a constant readjustment of my attitude. Vlad,
you, follow me. Do what I called you to do. That doesn't mean I can't learn from my brothers and
sisters who are doing it better, or other people cannot learn from me in some areas where the Lord
has given me grace, and I'm excelling in. But, at the end of the day, my eyes have to be in
Jesus. I have to run the race, laying aside every sin. Being surrounded by the cloud of witnesses.
Looking with the gaze. Looking with this laser focus, on the one who wants, who runs before me.
My goal is not to be like him, her, or them. My goal is to be like Jesus. I want to please the
Father like Jesus did. I want to do what Jesus did. And this is my cry. This is my prayer. And,
I pray this will be your prayer. Get out from the trap of comparison. Get the face of Jesus in front
of you once again. Get your passion boiling for the heart of God. Become obsessed with the glory
of Jesus. Become a person who is wrapped, who is possessed, if I could even use that. Who is filled
with the desire, with the zeal to please Jesus. Lord I pray for that person that is watching this
video. That you will redirect their attention. I pray for those who lost their peace, they lost
their contentment. They stopped developing their gifts. It killed their creativity. It killed their
confidence. They're complaining. They're coveting. They're criticizing. They're no longer creating,
because they're looking at somebody else's lawn, and they have stopped watering their own. They're
no longer taking care of what You have given them so it can grow. They're not happy because You
didn't give them enough, because you gave somebody else more. They become discontent. They started to
develop offense. Lord, I pray against that. I pray for repentance to come right now. I pray for Your
glory to come and that Your presence will become more real. That they will become aware of who You
are, and they will live their life to bring You glory in Jesus name. Amen. Hey, thank you for
watching this video. It turned into a prayer right away, but I hope that you were encouraged. Let
me know what you think about it in the comments below. As always, hey, I want to remind you that
I have an online store. Now, It's not a free store. All of my content is free, as you know,
but we have a store that's connected to this Youtube channel. Savchuk store that a merchandise
like this, like come on somebody, or holy spirit, or deliverance is there, demon slayers there.
And so, if you buy stuff from there, it can help as well our ministry. It could help also, uh,
some of the expenses that we have personally. Actually will help to pay for my dog's food,
because it goes to my wife, and my wife pays for the dog's food. And if you would like to become a
member of this channel, you get little perks there and there. But it's like your way of saying, "Hey,
I believe in what you're doing Vlad, and I just want to be a blessing." And so it's different
than partnership, and so, but it still helps us personally with me and my wife to do what we do
for the kingdom of God. Thank you so much for that, and God Bless you until next time!