Social media has made it easier for us to stay in contact with friends and family. Showing photos of our kids, our vacations and even our pets. But with the good comes a bad side effect. Have you ever scrolled through Facebook and wished you were on that vacation? or your kids behaved that well? Well, you are not alone. A recent study came out that said on average, YOU and I spend 12% of our daily thoughts in comparison. Which averages to 2 hours per day. With 85% of Americans saying they go online on a daily basis. 31% say they are online almost constantly, as well as 48% who say they go online several times a day (information found at pewresearch.org). That’s a lot of time spent looking and comparing our lives to others.

When we focus on what we think other people’s lives are like, we miss the blessing in our own lives. So how do we spend less time comparing. Romans 12:2 “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” Instead of spending that time looking, judging and comparing, we should renew our minds and spend time with God and meditating on His truths:

God knew you before you were born (Jer. 1:5). and you are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14). God has a plan for your life that will bring Him glory (Jer. 29:11). God wants us to serve Him without seeking approval from others

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. “Thus, when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. (Matt. 6:1-34)

Any time we find ourselves comparing our lives to others we should go to God’s word and renew our minds to the right thinking.