Superiority
There must be a fine line between doing the best you can and feeling superior. When a person does a good job, it's a big temptation to start thinking, "I did that better than . . ." and fill in the name of specific people in one's life. My Bible reading in October kept reminding me over and over that this is not a good thing. Being reminded of this as I read Paul's letters keeps me focused on what is going on inside my mind.
I know that I'm supposed to focus on doing my best and if I use that sentence at all it should be completed this way: "I did that better than I did it the last time." I should only compare my work with my work and that would keep me from getting sloppy or lazy about it.
How self wants to hear that what I did is better than what another person has done. And that's where the fine line is drawn. There are times when it's true, but if I dwell on that thought, it encourages a sense of superiority within me and that is really not a good thing. God stresses to us that none of us has any right to feel superior to others. My ability to do better work than some does not make me a better person than they. It just means I have more ability in certain areas. Everyone is better at something than I am and can teach me much about that thing in which they excel.
At Aquarobics, a newcomer was stressing her dieting and how she won't allow herself to eat lunch with others because she must lose weight. Ironically, she was not desperately in need of weight loss. I wondered what internal pressure pushes her to play the weight loss game when she doesn't need it. This gave rise to the thoughts of the feeling of superiority. This may not be true of her but it did raise the question in my mind and recalled to me my October lessons in devotions, that I should compare my progress of today with what I have done and to always do my best because I'm doing it for my King.
True humility is not superior, nor inferior, but accepts the truth about one's self without making a big deal about it. Today I am happy to be me. My skin fits me. My feet reach the ground, though I don't stand very tall. I love and I am loved. I serve my King with who I am and work to hear his, "Well done."
This, to me, is something like the work of the Sword of Shanara, which is to make one see truth about one's self. I've been thinking about this a lot in the last 24 hours.
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