Rivalry is a bigger part of our lives than we often realize.

Maybe you have an actual rival, someone you’re always competing with—maybe in sports, at school, or in the office. And although what I’m about to say can apply to those situations, let’s think more broadly.

It’s easy to continually compare ourselves to others. And when that happens, we start to evaluate the ‘success’ of our lives based on whether or not we think we’re ‘winning’ in relation to the people around us.

Subconsciously—or even consciously—we want to be smarter, wealthier, better-looking, or more popular. The list goes on.

Ego is an internal beast, insecure and erratic, powered by rivalry, who inflates himself by sucking the peace from your own soul.

But in Isaiah 42:8, God says, “I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other…” Let’s ponder that for a moment. There is NO RIVAL to God’s glory. Only GOD has that kind of glory. Only GOD is perfect. Only GOD is 100% love. Only GOD is 100% truth. Only GOD is 100% goodness. And he’s the one who made you, who loves you, who saves you, and who gives you purpose. NO ONE ELSE can do any of that.

That’s why God-gazing is the antidote to human rivalry.

The more we focus on God—and on his glory, and on his power, and on his love, and on his truth, and on his holiness—the less concerned we are with measuring up to others, and to winning the hundreds of daily rivalries that trample your joy.

“I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other…”

God-gazing is the antidote to human rivalry.

By Matthew Ruttan

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.