Stuck in the Comparison Trap
Feel like everyone else is “winning at life” while you’re falling behind? In this episode, learn how to step off the comparison treadmill and live the unique assignment God has given you.
Feel like everyone else is “winning at life” while you’re falling behind? In this episode, learn how to step off the comparison treadmill and live the unique assignment God has given you.
Have you ever walked into church, scrolled your feed, or sat in a room full of people and felt like everyone else was doing life better than you?
Their kids seem more put together.
Their homes look more beautiful.
Their marriages look more connected.
Their lives look more successful.
And even if you love Jesus and you’re serving Him, inside you find yourself thinking, “I’m not enough. My family isn’t enough. I’m always behind.”
In this episode, Bart shares the story of a pastor’s wife and mom who quietly lived in that exact spiral. Sunday after Sunday, she’d look around and feel like everyone else was winning at life. Later, the scroll would make it worse, every smiling photo, every “perfect” moment, every update made her own life feel a little smaller. She wasn’t bitter, but she was stuck in comparison, constantly measuring herself against other women, other families, other ministries.
Through her story and the truth of Galatians 6:4, you’ll see that God never asked you to live someone else’s life. He hasn’t called you to chase someone else’s calling, copy someone else’s family, or match someone else’s results. Instead, He invites you to “pay careful attention to your own work,” to find joy and satisfaction in being faithful to the specific assignment He’s given you.
Galatians 6:4 (NLT) says:
“Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”
Bart unpacks how Sandra Stanley eventually recognized how much peace she was losing every time she measured her life against someone else’s highlight reel. That realization led her to create a Bible study called The Comparison Trap, centered on the freedom that comes when you stop looking sideways and start looking at the unique work God has placed in your hands. She learned to celebrate other women’s wins without turning them into a verdict on her own worth, and to find satisfaction not in outperforming others, but in doing what God actually asked her to do.
You’ll be invited to make that same shift—from “How do I stack up?” to “What has God asked me to do today?” That’s where comparison starts to lose its grip, and peace slowly begins to return.
Main Scripture:
Galatians 6:4 (NLT) –
“Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.”
By the end of this episode, you’ll be reminded:
- That comparison quietly steals your joy, your peace, and your gratitude.
- That your value isn’t measured by how you stack up, but by Whose you are.
- That God’s assignment for you is specific, personal, and good—even if it looks smaller or quieter than someone else’s.
- That real satisfaction comes from being faithful, not from being first.
Today’s Challenge:
Notice one moment today when comparison tries to creep in, maybe when you walk into a room, see someone else’s success, or open social media.
When you feel that familiar sting of “I’m behind” or “I’m not enough,” pause and pray:
“Lord, help me pay careful attention to my own work. What have You asked me to do today?”
Then, name one concrete assignment from God in this season, a person to love, a responsibility to carry, a step of obedience to take, and let that be your focus instead of how you measure up to anyone else.
Encouraged by today’s devotion?
Share this episode with someone who feels like they’re always coming up short when they compare their life to others. A simple link from you might be the gentle reminder they need: God has given them their own good assignment.
https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/133
And if this podcast has helped you, please follow and leave a review. It helps others find the same encouragement.
https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/reviews/new/
Resources Mentioned in This Episode:
“The Comparison Trap” by Sandra Stanley
Want to keep these devotions coming? Please consider supporting this podcast.
https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/support/
Connect with Bart
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/dailydevotionsforbusylives
Website: https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com
Feeling spiritually drained? Start here. Download your free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus here.
Mentioned in this episode:
Subscribe to the Newsletter
If you’d like weekly encouragement delivered straight to your inbox, plus a free copy of my eBook Making Time for Jesus, sign up for the Daily Devotions for Busy Lives newsletter at https://www.dailydevotionsforbusylives.com/subscribe.
Track 1 00:00:01
She was a pastor's wife and mom. She would look around
Track 1 00:00:04
at church on a Sunday and feel like everyone else was winning
Track 1 00:00:07
at life. She sees women with perfectly dressed kids,
Track 1 00:00:12
beautifully decorated homes, organized schedules, and what
Track 1 00:00:16
looked like effortless marriages. Later, she scrolls online and
Track 1 00:00:20
those same feelings grow. Every photo and every update, every
Track 1 00:00:26
perfect family moment makes her own life feel a little smaller,
Track 1 00:00:30
a little less. She loves Jesus and she's serving, but inside
Track 1 00:00:34
she's stuck in a quiet spiral of, I'm not enough and my family
Track 1 00:00:39
isn't enough. It's always like, I'm behind somehow. Why would
Track 1 00:00:44
someone in ministry surrounded by good people and good things
Track 1 00:00:48
need to step off that comparison treadmill and learn to live a
Track 1 00:00:52
different way?
Track 1 00:00:55
Welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm Bart Lager and
Track 1 00:01:00
I've been a pastor for over 40 years. There's something that
Track 1 00:01:04
sneaks up on almost all of us. What is it? Comparison. You know
Track 1 00:01:09
how it goes. you're doing fine, content even, and then you walk
Track 1 00:01:13
into a room or you open your phone and suddenly you feel
Track 1 00:01:17
smaller. Someone else's family looks more put together.
Track 1 00:01:21
Someone's house seems nicer. Maybe they drive a better car.
Track 1 00:01:26
Someone's ministry looks bigger. Someone's life looks just better.
Track 1 00:01:32
Galatians 6.4 says, Pay careful attention to your own work or
Track 1 00:01:37
then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done
Track 1 00:01:41
and you won't need to compare yourself to anyone else. Now
Track 1 00:01:45
that's a very different way to live than the world around us.
Track 1 00:01:49
Most of our culture runs on comparison. And think about it.
Track 1 00:01:53
Social media is built on it. You scroll and immediately, without
Track 1 00:01:58
even trying, you start stacking your life next to other people's
Track 1 00:02:02
lives. Their vacations and their bodies, their kids'
Track 1 00:02:06
accomplishments, their marriage, their ministry wins, and before
Track 1 00:02:10
long, you're thinking you're behind, or you're less, or, you
Track 1 00:02:15
know, you just don't measure up. And what I love about Galatians
Track 1 00:02:20
6.4 is that it doesn't say try harder to be the best, or make
Track 1 00:02:25
sure you're winning compared to everyone else. It says, pay
Track 1 00:02:29
careful attention to your own work. In other words, look at
Track 1 00:02:32
what God has actually put in front of you. Look at the
Track 1 00:02:36
assignments he's given you in this season. Look at the people
Track 1 00:02:39
he's called you to love and the responsibilities he's asked you
Track 1 00:02:42
to carry. And he's given you gifts to steward and to use and
Track 1 00:02:48
to build on. And when you do that, and when you focus on your
Track 1 00:02:53
own lane, on your own calling, Paul says you get something
Track 1 00:02:57
valuable. The satisfaction of a job well done. That's a
Track 1 00:03:02
different kind of satisfaction than the rush you get when you
Track 1 00:03:04
feel like you're ahead of someone. It's a quiet, deep,
Track 1 00:03:09
steady sense of, I did what God asked me to do today. And when
Track 1 00:03:14
that becomes your measure, you don't need to compare yourself
Track 1 00:03:17
to anyone else. Comparison is sneaky because it's not always
Track 1 00:03:21
top of mind. Sometimes it sneaks up on you. You walk into church
Track 1 00:03:26
and you see a family that looks more put together and you think,
Track 1 00:03:29
what's wrong with us? You open your phone and see someone's
Track 1 00:03:33
highlight reel and suddenly your ordinary Thursday feels like a
Track 1 00:03:37
failure. You look over at what someone else is doing for God
Track 1 00:03:40
and wonder if your small, unseen faithfulness really counts. But
Track 1 00:03:46
comparison always does the same thing. It shifts your eyes off
Track 1 00:03:51
of God and off of your calling and it directs them sideways.
Track 1 00:03:55
You stop asking, Lord, what are you asking me to do? And start
Track 1 00:04:00
asking, how do I stack up? Other people's lives become your
Track 1 00:04:04
measuring stick instead of God's assignment for you. Instead of
Track 1 00:04:08
staying stuck in silent envy, Sandra Stanley began to notice
Track 1 00:04:12
how much peace she was losing every time she measured her life
Track 1 00:04:15
against someone else's highlight reel. That realization
Track 1 00:04:18
eventually led her to create a Bible study called The
Track 1 00:04:20
Comparison Trap. Built around the idea that freedom comes when
Track 1 00:04:24
you stop looking sideways and start looking at the specific
Track 1 00:04:28
work God has given you to do. She talks about learning to
Track 1 00:04:32
celebrate other women's wins without making them a verdict on
Track 1 00:04:34
her worth. Or to pay careful attention to her own work so she
Track 1 00:04:40
could find satisfaction and faithfulness not in
Track 1 00:04:42
outperforming anyone. That simple but radical shift from
Track 1 00:04:46
how do I stack up to what has God actually asked me to do
Track 1 00:04:51
today is Galatians 6.4 lived out. Her story invites us to lay down
Track 1 00:04:55
the tape measure, step out of the comparison trap, and to
Track 1 00:04:59
embrace our own God-given assignment. Trusting that we
Track 1 00:05:02
don't have to be like everyone else to be deeply loved and
Track 1 00:05:06
fully used by Him. Maybe that's exactly what you need today.
Track 1 00:05:10
Maybe you've been looking sideways so much that you've
Track 1 00:05:13
stopped enjoying what God's put right in front of you. You can't
Track 1 00:05:16
enjoy your home because you're thinking about someone else's.
Track 1 00:05:19
You can't delight in your kids because you're worried they're
Track 1 00:05:22
not achieving what someone else's kids are achieving. You
Track 1 00:05:25
can't rest in your calling because you're too busy tallying
Track 1 00:05:29
the likes or comments or the visible results. Galatians 6.4
Track 1 00:05:35
is an invitation to breathe. Pay careful attention to your own
Track 1 00:05:39
work. Ask, Lord, what have you actually given me to do in this
Track 1 00:05:44
season? Maybe it's caring for aging parents.
Track 1 00:05:50
teenager. Maybe it's serving quietly in a ministry no one
Track 1 00:05:53
ever applauds. Maybe it's going to a job that feels ordinary but
Track 1 00:05:58
doing it with integrity and love. That's your assignment. And God
Track 1 00:06:02
will not hold you accountable for someone else's calling. He
Track 1 00:06:05
will ask you about yours. Here's today's challenge. Sometime
Track 1 00:06:10
today, I want you to notice when comparison shows up. Maybe it's
Track 1 00:06:15
when you walk into a room or when you open your favorite app.
Track 1 00:06:19
When you feel that little sting of, I'm behind or I'm less. What
Track 1 00:06:24
I want you to do is pause and pray. Lord, help me pay
Track 1 00:06:28
attention to my own work. What have you asked me to do today?
Track 1 00:06:34
Then, I want you to name one specific assignment. It could be
Track 1 00:06:38
a person to love, a responsibility to take care of,
Track 1 00:06:43
or a step of obedience to take.
Track 1 00:06:49
Lord, you know how easy it is for us to look sideways instead
Track 1 00:06:53
of up. We confess that we often measure ourselves against others,
Track 1 00:06:57
their families, their bodies, their homes, their cars, their
Track 1 00:07:02
ministries, and we come away feeling either proud or ashamed.
Track 1 00:07:07
Forgive us for the times we've let comparison steal our joy and
Track 1 00:07:10
our peace. Please teach us to pay careful attention to the
Track 1 00:07:13
work you've given us to do and free us from the comparison trap,
Track 1 00:07:18
and remind us that we don't have to be like anyone else to be
Track 1 00:07:21
deeply loved and fully used by you. If this episode encouraged
Track 1 00:07:28
you, chances are, it will encourage someone you care about
Track 1 00:07:31
too, so please share it with a friend or loved one. Just copy
Track 1 00:07:35
the link in the show notes and send it their way.
Track 1 00:07:41
Thanks for joining me today on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives.
Track 1 00:07:50
Remember, you're not called to live someone else's life. Pay
Track 1 00:07:54
careful attention to your own work and trust that God's
Track 1 00:07:57
assignment for you is good. Come back next time for more
Track 1 00:08:01
encouragement to help you live grounded in God's truth. Until
Track 1 00:08:04
then, God bless and have a great day. Thank you.
