Read 2 Corinthians 10:11-12
As we allow God's truth to pierce the tough, hardened barriers we have erected in our minds, we receive surprising benefits. We saw yesterday that God gives us His divine power (2 Corinthians 10:4). He also grants us what I call authentic independence.
Look at verses 11 and 12 in 2 Corinthians 10:
Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present. For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.
Isn't that refreshing? No masks of hypocrisy. No competition with other believers—just authentic independence. A Christian with this type of attitude refuses to get caught in the trap of comparing himself or herself with others. It all comes to those with a "renewed mind"...those who determine they are going to allow the Spirit of God to invade all those walls and towers, capturing the guards that have kept the Lord at arm's length for too many years.
I can't recall the precise date when these truths began to fall into place, but I distinctly remember how I began to change deep within. My fierce tendency to compete with others started to diminish. My insecure need to win—always win—also started to fade. Less and less was I interested in comparing myself with other speakers and pastors. This growing, healthy independence freed me to be me, not a mixture of what I thought others expected me to be.
I mean it when I say that my heart really goes out to others when I see in them that misery-making "comparison syndrome" that held me in its grip for so many years. Don't misunderstand me; I still have very far to go. Nevertheless, it was not until I started thinking biblically that this authentic, independent identity began to take shape.
I believe God has designed it to occur this way.
Excerpted from Improving Your Serve: The Art of Unselfish Living, Copyright 1981 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.
