Irreplaceable

By Charlotte Finlay

“Comparison is the thief of joy.” 

~Theodore Roosevelt

I didn’t know at first what I was going to write an entire blog post on when this first began, however God has been so clearly telling me this past week that it should be on comparison. What a massive obstacle in our lives as women!!

I know that this is something that not just teenage girls, like me struggle with, but it’s something that women of all ages, and all stages of life struggle with. I absolutely adore how we at CCV celebrate women and together are on the move to bring the kingdom to where we are in life right now. So why is it that we so often play the ‘comparison game’? Why is it that we so often want to be like our friend or our sister, be it in looks, personality or intelligence?

 I have a younger sister, Rachel. We get told all the time how alike we are, but we’re so very different. We often compare ourselves to one another, until we have to remind each other what we’re doing. It’s so easy to lose sight of God’s heart and his unique purpose for each of us, to get tangled up in a society where beauty is everything and who you are is everything. I think the reason for our comparing is this: we are constantly trying to reach unattainable expectations that we create for ourselves, and we can never quite make it to this ‘standard’. We constantly feel inadequate, or the common ‘not good enough’ and we start to believe these lies we speak to ourselves. We may wish we were more outgoing and bubbly, or funnier, or more gifted. You may look in the mirror and be able to list the imperfections but God’s list of perfections is never ending. We focus on what we don’t have and forget what we have been given. I also think our culture has a lot to do with this, in that we as women are so very good at praising others and finding the good and the wonderful in others, yet are so quick to see our own flaws. We wish all the time for her figure, her personality, her wardrobe. How are we going to be able to lift others up when we are constantly tearing ourselves down?

We constantly want to exchange ourselves in place of someone else, and we don’t realise how damaging it is to us. For when we compare ourselves to other women we are robbing ourselves of our worth and our value. When we don’t feel worthy or valuable we become less capable of changing this world and bringing joy and freedom to the lives of those around us. We don’t have time to wish we were someone else; our time is now. We are each individual and different. No one can do Charlotte like I do her, and no one can do you like you do her. You have something SO special to give! When we each know that we are irreplaceable and that what we have to give, quirks, flaws, the whole package, is needed, we are going to bring change. Society today is crying out for women who know who they are and to whom they belong; women who refuse to listen to the lies that have been spoken over them, that they aren’t pretty enough, smart enough or good enough. Society needs women who refuse to waste their precious time comparing their worth because they know that what they have to give to this world is beautiful and different and needed.

The world needs women who refuse to continue seeking their worth through the game of comparison but instead through Jesus. Your worth is more than your waist size, your face without make up, your hair in the morning, the label on your clothing. You are defined by your Father in heaven. You are His daughter with whom he is so pleased, always. Only He can determine your worth.

My New Year’s resolution this year is to not compare myself to other girls and women and to embrace my quirks and qualities (flaws included); to be at peace with who my Father made me to be. I encourage each of you reading this to do the same, for in so doing you are free to love, live with joy and make a difference in this world. So embrace YOU this year. You are irreplaceable.