We are equal before God; it’s our pride that pits us against each other
A long-standing tradition at Brigham Young University is the weekly devotional, an address given in the multithousand-seat Marriott Center. The speakers are diverse, ranging from political, religious and business leaders to educators, authors and entertainers. The range of topics is equally diverse, and some talks have gained legendary status.
It comes as no surprise that an invitation to give a devotional address might be met with some trepidation. J. B Haws, BYU associate professor of church history, reported that when he received the invitation, he didn’t know what he would say and couldn’t stop wondering whether he could measure up to past speakers.
”How would my devotional talk compare?”
And there he found his topic, “this vexatious tendency to compare.”
We all do it. It happens without thinking. Can I do as well? Is my dress as nice? Is he faster? Her speech was better. My car cost more. My house is bigger. He got a better grade. It just goes on and on.
Comparisons are unfair. There are too many variables ranging from gender and race to education, experience and genetics. We are not the same. We can work hard, train, study and do our best. But if we have slow genes, or lacked educational opportunities, or we aren’t tall enough, we might not be able to do as well as someone else.
An unfortunate but frequent result of comparison is pride. Ezra Taft Benson, the 13th president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, warned that “pride is essentially competitive in nature,” and then quoted C. S. Lewis:
“Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. ... It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”
The antidote to pride is humility. Even Jesus’ apostles got hung up on comparisons. “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” and in response, “Jesus called a little child unto him ... and said ... whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt 18:1-4)
Humility includes praying for forgiveness and forgiving others; being grateful for our blessings and divine assistance in our lives; and forgetting self and thinking of others. Humility is found in loving and serving our neighbors, no matter their ethnicity, gender, color or religion. It is serving the Lord.
Boyd K. Packer, while serving as a mission president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, needed to select a new assistant from among the missionaries. After the choice was made, another missionary came to talk to him about his choice, essentially asking why the other young man was chosen. President Packer recognized that the young man’s real question was, “Why not me?”
In counseling him, Packer explained that the choice of the other missionary was not a reflection upon the young man because it was not a competition. “Your contest is not with him but with yourself.”
God does not compare us to one another. We are all equal before God. In the Book of Mormon, Nephi says that all are alike unto God, “black and white, bond and free, male and female: ... both Jew and Gentile.” (2 Nephi 26:33).
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland put it another way: “(God) cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other.”