I saw the razor sharp teeth of an ancient man eating lion in fresh perspective today. I saw how we as people often feel good by feeling better.

The joy, excitement, and sense of belonging we feel by self-justifying our existence through proving our superiority over others, is indeed terrifying. In order to revel in this prideful delight we don’t need to necessarily prove our superiority to others, but only over others, if only to ourselves. We convince ourselves we have some edge or advantage in matters that are important to us, and we convince ourselves that what is important to us is important to God. We tell ourselves… we have an edge on God over others. Whether it’s by our smarts, our charisma, our talent, our resources, our character, our wisdom, our patience, our lack of vice, our lack of hypocrisy, etc… we take note where others pale in comparison to us, and we revel in our own self aggrandizement, making creation a show of our own glory. When we get an A on that test, write that essay that everybody likes, dazzle everyone by that sermon, have those children that are most polite and quiet in church, bake the favorite dish for the shared meal, write that song that beckons praise, know the references to that scriptures no one else knows, keep our cool when others argue, or express a doctrine more eloquently than others, we quickly make note that we are “good” at this thing that is “very important” to God. Then, we immediately compare ourselves to those who clearly don’t measure up. We compare our grade A exams to those whom we are confident we have outscored… and we feel good by feeling better than them.

But God tells us through the apostle in Philippians 2:3:

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.

How do you feel when others are found to be more ’significant’ than you in ways that you see are important. How do you feel when you compare your grade B exam to the grade A exam. Do you delight in God, and find your joy in their success? Not in rivalry, but really rejoicing with them? Do you look for opportunities to make little of your A in comparison to the lesser grades, for danger that you might count yourself more significant than others? I don’t. God help me, please. I despise the fact that I feel good by feeling better than others. Lord, please change me.