February 1, 2012
Improving Your Outlook
By Michael Youssef, Ph.D.
If our self-value is based on our title, net worth, or ZIP code, then we will never find contentment. There will always be something better than what we have--something newer and nicer. There will always be someone who is more successful, attractive, or smarter than us.
In Psalm 73 we see the psalmist falling into this danger of comparing himself to others. He succumbed to envy and self-pity. He began to doubt his godly lifestyle. "For I envied the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. They have no struggles; their bodies are healthy and strong....This is what the wicked are like—always carefree, they increase in wealth. Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure; in vain have I washed my hands in innocence. All day long I have been plagued; I have been punished every morning" (Psalm 73:3-4, 12-14).
As he began to see his circumstances from the eternal viewpoint of God, his outlook improved. "When I tried to understand all this, it was oppressive to me till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny....Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds" (Psalm 73:16-17, 27-28).
Prayer: God, when I find myself struggling with comparing myself to others, help me to follow the example of the psalmist, looking at my circumstances from an eternal perspective. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
"So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:18).
