Our flesh is insatiable, it always wants more. It looks at the goods, the experiences, the relationships of others and it wants the same thing. But we must break this bad habit because it leads us in the wrong direction.

The image is cliché: a child is happy to play with his red truck. He loves it so much that he takes a bath with this toy, sleeps with it, eats with this toy. They are inseparable. Then, one day, the child meets a friend who plays with a blue truck. His friend is happy with his blue truck and the child wants an identical blue truck. Suddenly, he has no more interest in his red truck. He starts crying because he wants this blue truck: his happiness depends on this other truck now.

This scene does not only occur with children. Even adults, we act the same, and it’s been like that for a very long time! “Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, “No, but we will have a king over us, that we also may be like all the nations, and that our king may judge us and go out before us and fight our battles” (1 Samuel 8:19-20 NKJV). The people of Israel had God as king. They were the only people on Earth who had God as head of state, represented by prophets or judges, like Samuel. But one day they looked at other pagan nations around them, and they desired to have a king: “that we also may be like all the nations”, they said.

Comparing ourselves to others is always dangerous. Especially when the “others” are non-Christians. It is easy to look at non-Christians who have multiple conquests, who tell us their beautiful romantic stories, and then wish we had the same thing as them. They do not have this great command to look for a partner who has the same faith as them. They can live together without having to marry, which allows them to break their loneliness much faster than a Christian who wishes to follow God’s plan. The arguments quickly multiply because they are inspired directly from the father of the lie. The enemy will never show us what we are losing to compromising our faith. He will only paint a positive portrait of sin.

There is nothing wrong with getting married, having a big house, two cars, two kids, a cat, and a dog. But why do we want all this? To be like our friends? To be like the characters in our favorite television series? Are we really looking for God’s will, or are we telling God to give us all that so we “may be like all the others”? Our Heavenly Father, however, encourages us to follow His ways, to be different from the world (Romans 12:2), so that we do not end up in the same place with them (Psalms 73:17-19).

And you, are you looking to be “like the others”? Or do you accept your singular calling, your personal path, your intimate relationship with God? Even the disciples compared themselves to each other and Jesus did not like that. “Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me” (John 21:22 NKJV). Stop trying to be “like others”, or to have what others have, especially when these “others” do not follow the ways of God. Trust your heavenly Father, He knows what is best for you.