Overcoming Comparison: How to Find Confidence in Who God Created You to Be

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Have you ever found yourself scrolling through social media and wondered to yourself "Why doesn't my life look like that? or maybe you have felt inadequate in a relationship, in your job or maybe even in a church community. Hi, I'm Yvonne Paschal and I have experienced this first hand as I know many other women do. I struggled for a long time with comparison and feeling insecure in myself, didn't feel I measured up, didn't feel good enough and it left me very unhappy. After many years of struggling in this area and I am not who I used to be. Through emotional and inner healing and finding my true identity in Christ and growing in my relationship with the Lord, I have overcome this in a great way. I want to help other Christian women do the same and in this podcast, I uncover the subtle yet powerful thief which robs us of joy and confidence. This episode promises a transformative journey, guiding you towards recognizing and embracing your unique God-given design and purpose. Through personal reflection and guided exercises, we'll explore how comparison distracts us from our true paths and how gratitude serves as a potent antidote, shifting our focus from lack to abundance.
Discover the spiritual implications of comparison and learn to see yourself as the masterpiece God created you to be. 

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Free Resources:

- 3 day Prayer Guide for Strength in Hard Times, Get Yours today! www.beinhispurpose.com/freeresource

- Mini Audio Training with Workbook on Overcoming Comparison: How to Find Confidence in Who God Created You to Be. Grab your Free training - https://mailchi.mp/beinhispurpose/9iv45gkmuu

Music credit: Music by Mike Kripak from Pixabay

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Hello and welcome. I'm Yvonne Paschal, with Be In His Purpose, and I'm so excited to spend these next few minutes with you in this free mini training on something so many of us struggle with, and that is comparison. Seen someone else's highlight reel and wondering why doesn't my life look like that? Or maybe you felt like you're falling short and not measuring up to others in your job or in a relationship, or even with your walk with God. If that's you, I want you to know you're not alone. Today we're going to unpack how comparison robs us of joy and confidence and, more importantly, how we can overcome it by stepping into the truth of who God says we are. So let's define comparison. Comparison is when we measure our worth or success against someone else's, often focusing on what we lack, and this mindset will lead us to feeling inadequate, envious sometimes, and it can even lead to pride, and I want to share just some spiritual insight behind this. Comparison isn't just a bad habit. It's actually a tool that the enemy uses to distract us from God's plan for our lives, and so when we focus on others, we're actually losing sight of our own uniqueness and our own unique calling. In scripture, it tells us in John 10 10, that the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. So comparison will steal our joy, it kills our confidence and then it destroys our ability to walk fully in God's purpose. So I want you to take a moment to reflect and think about when does comparison tend to creep in for you? Is it when you're on social media? Is it at work? Or maybe just even in your church community? And I want you to write this out. I've created a workbook PDF that you can print out, that I provided in this training, and I really want you to take hold of that and begin really defining. Where does this typically creep in for you? Feel free to pause the audio and spend some time on this exercise.

Speaker 1: 2:58

Now let's move on to your unique design. You are not meant to be like anyone else. You are God's masterpiece and you were handcrafted for a specific purpose. In Ephesians 2.10, it tells us we are God's handiwork. Ephesians 2.10, it tells us we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do. So see, you are created intentionally with specific gifts, specific talents and a purpose that no one else can fulfill. Specific talents and a purpose that no one else can fulfill. There is no one else like you on this earth. You are unique, you are gifted and you have purpose. When we celebrate someone else's success, you know it doesn't diminish our own success. You know it doesn't diminish our own. It's a reminder that God has a unique plan for each and every single one of us.

Speaker 1: 4:10

So now I want us to move into the unique design exercise that is in your workbook and I want you to think about one thing that makes you uniquely you, and then write it down. I want you to think about your talents, your personality, even your story, and then ask yourself how can I celebrate that today? Maybe it's journaling, maybe it's prayer, maybe it's just worshiping God and giving him praise and singing out to the Lord, but I want you to thank God for how he's made you Do that today. Feel free to pause the audio to spend some time on this section of the exercise. Now we're going to go into putting our focus on why gratitude matters. See, comparison thrives when we focus on what we don't have, and then gratitude breaks that cycle by shifting our focus to God's blessing in our lives. In 1 Thessalonians 5.18, it says Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you. In Christ Jesus, I want you to go into your workbook under the Guided Gratitude Exercise and I want you to take a deep breath and close your eyes, if you can, and think about three things you're grateful for in this season of life. These don't have to be big things, it can be in the smallest of the details, but I want you to think about that and think about the blessings God has given you today. And then I want you to thank God for each one of those things. Let gratitude fill your heart right now and push out any feelings of lack or inadequacy. Again, feel free to pause the audio to spend some time on this section of the exercise.

Speaker 1: 6:27

Now that we've gone through some exercises to help break the cycle, I want you to be encouraged in the confidence of God's plan on your life Because, remember, you don't have to look to the left or to the right. Your only focus is on God and the unique path he has created for you. In Hebrews 12, 1 and 2, it says let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. With perseverance. The race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. So I want to challenge you this week to practice gratitude daily.

Speaker 1: 7:19

In your workbook, I've created a seven-day space for you to utilize and practice writing out your gratitude for the next seven days. So, when comparison creeps in, I want you to pause and thank God for who he's created you to be and the blessings he's placed in your life. Reflect on this workbook and what you've shared and wrote out to help you as well. If you'd like to dive deeper, I'd love for you to check out my Be In His Purpose podcast, where I share more encouragement and practical tools to walk in confidence and in faith to step fully into your purpose. I've included more information on where you can check that out in your workbook. I want to leave you with some final words of encouragement. I do want you to know that you are enough, because God created you to be exactly who you are. So keep trusting him, celebrate your journey and walk boldly into his purpose for your life. I pray this free training has blessed you and encouraged you. And be blessed, my friends. Thank you, thank you.