Heads up! I’m creating short, fun, Come Follow Me videos each week. Be notified of new videos via email, Facebook, or Instagram. Below is a transcript based on this video. This story has been previously published in The Founder of our Peace and The Compare Dare.
We all have weaknesses, things we’re not good at. In my case, when it comes to fixing things around the house, I’m not very handy. Like a few years ago, one of our toilets stopped working. I tried to plunge it, that didn’t work. Then I shoved a snake down the toilet (this is the tool by the way, not the animal), but that didn’t work, so I thought, “Well, I guess we’ll never be able to use that toilet again.” Fortunately my wife Lani is more clever than I am. I came home a day or two later and she was rocking the toilet back and forth and picked it up (I didn’t know you could pick up toilets—kids—do not try this at home). She took the toilet outside did some investigating and found a little jewelry box one of our kids had put in the toilet. Problem solved—but not by me.
A few years ago, I decided that even though I have no construction skills, I would try to build a swingset for my kids. I bought a swing set kit; there were twenty-seven steps to building this swing set. The first step—I am not making this up—took me more than six hours to complete!
I have some friends who put up a swingset over a weekend. But that’s not me. It took several weeks (and lots of help) until the swing set was finally completed. It was a magical day; everyone was happily playing. The only problem came when my daughter said, “I love the swing set, but there are only three monkey bars.”
I told her, “You will love those monkey bars!” I was proud of that little playground. I may never paint a masterpiece, but that swing set was my creation.
We finished the swing set on a Saturday. At the time I was teaching seminary and the day before, I taught my seminary students about Ether 12:27, in which the Lord says to Moroni, “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”
After reading the verse, I explained to the students that Ether 12:27 is part of a conversation between Jesus Christ and Moroni. Moroni had a concern: he was worried that the Gentiles would make fun of his words because he was such a poor writer. Moroni said, “Lord, the Gentiles will mock at these things [meaning the Book of Mormon], because of our weakness in writing” (Ether 12:23). Moroni continues, “Thou hast not made us mighty in writing like unto the brother of Jared, for thou madest him that the things which he wrote were mighty even as thou art” (Ether 12:24).
In other words, Moroni compared himself to the brother of Jared and felt discouraged. The context in which the Savior said, “My grace is sufficient” (Ether 12:27) is actually comparison. As a class, we discussed the principle of avoiding comparison, and I invited students to carefully track whether they compared themselves to others over the next forty-eight hours and, if they did, how it made them feel.
Class was Friday, I completed the swing set on Saturday, went to church on Sunday and I saw my students again on Monday. I gave them three-by-five cards and asked them to write about their experiences with comparison over the weekend. I collected the cards, and Lani and I read them later that night while we drove to her brother’s house. As we reviewed the cards, I was amazed to see how many of my students said things like, “I realized that I compare myself to others all the time, and it really hurts me.” As I got out of the car, I thought, “Wow, these teenagers really struggle with comparison.”
When we walked into my brother-in-law’s backyard, the first thing I noticed was his swing set. It had five monkey bars! I thought, The swing set I made is junk!
I realized I had fallen into the exact same trap as my students. Just two days earlier, I had been completely content with my swing set. It was only when I compared it to another that I felt bad. Perhaps this is why Paul told the Corinthians, “They . . . comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise” (2 Corinthians 10:12). Comparison often leads to feelings of discontentment and discouragement. Comparison is the thief of joy.
While in some instances there can be benefits to comparison, if you’re like me, you still compare yourself in unhealthy ways from time to time, even though you know you shouldn’t. Just a couple of years ago I was speaking at a function with Brad Wilcox—if you don’t know him, he’s an amazing speaker. As I was getting things ready, a young lady approached with a camera. I thought, “That’s so nice, she wants to take her picture with me.”
She looked at me and said, “Are you Brad Wilcox?” I said, “No, he’s the next speaker.”
“Oh.” She said. And then she walked off. And I thought, “I’m a loser.”
But I shouldn’t compare myself to Brad Wilcox. Instead, I’ll work to remember, and I hope you will too—the word of Jesus Christ. In the context of comparison the Savior said, “My grace is sufficient.” You and I can count on that! We don’t need to feel discouraged in comparing ourselves to others. Instead of looking sideways for approval we can look up for God’s approval. Jesus is enough!
