I’m just going to be real with you, bear with me. I am constantly comparing myself. I compare myself to other people, to my friends, family, to coworkers, things and people that I am NOT. I compare myself to the girl who works out constantly and has the body I wish I had. I compare myself to the kid who excels on all of our chemistry exams, because I wish I was as smart as him. I compare myself to girls who seem like they have it all together when I feel like my life is a wreck. I compare myself to the replica of what I think I am supposed to be like. I compare myself to people who are nothing like me, but yet, I still do it.

Why? Why do we constantly compare ourselves to the standard of what we THINK we are supposed to be? Why do we go through life trying to be MORE THAN what we were created to be? Can’t we just be happy with who we are?

When we compare ourselves to others, when we try to change who we are to fit the mold of someone else, we are publicly declaring that we do not like who we are. We are declaring that we do not like who we were created to be.

I am as guilty as the next gal. If I stop and think about it, I bet I compare myself to someone else a couple times a day, if not more. I’ll make nonchalant comments as I scroll through Instagram like, “man I wish I was like her” or “why couldn’t that be me?” By making these comments, which seem very innocent and offhand, I am declaring that I do not like WHO God has created me to be.

Ouch. Did I really just say that? I told you I was being real.

Did you know that God created you in his own image? How crazy is that? Right from the beginning, Genesis 1:27 (ESV) states, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Later in Psalm 139:14 (ESV), “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.”

You were handcrafted, fearfully and wonderfully, and there is absolutely NO ONE else out there like you. The Bible even says that “my soul knows it very well.” We KNOW that we are incredible masterpieces created by the One whom our souls belong but for some silly reason, we do not want to believe it. We are not good enough. We are not perfect enough. We are not enough. Or at least, this is what we tell ourselves.

We have no reason to compare ourselves to anyone else or to even doubt who we are, because God’s path for our lives is MUCH better than the plans we make up in our heads. Each of us have been created with a purpose; A purpose to seek God in everything that we do and to live life abundantly pursuing Him. Everything happens for a reason and God creating you the way that you are is the BEST reason that there is.

Next time you even come close to comparing yourself to the girl in the magazine — DO NOT DO IT. “You will never look like the girl in the magazine. The girl in the magazine doesn’t even look like the girl in the magazine.”

Just being honest with you all. Thank God every day for who He created you to be. Live your life serving Him. No more comparisons are allowed. Only confident declarations celebrating the woman that God made you to be.