i'm the best and greatest... a blog about the flattery of the saints.

hi.
my name is julia.

i have the most amazing family.
i have the most amazing boyfriend.
i have the most amazing job.
i have the prettiest eyes.
i have the most potential.
i pray the best prayers.
i throw the best parties.
i support the most important causes.
i go to the best church. they have the best music.
i am the bestest friend.
i am the most beautiful woman in the world.
i am the greatest kid.
i am the most talented writer.
i am the most anointed worship leader.
i am the best singer up there.
i am the greatest nanny of all time.
i am the most mature person in the room.
i am the holiest & most righteous by far.
i am the smartest, brightest, and wisest.
i am the safest driver.
i am the quickest grocery shopper.
i am the most frugal.
i am the best house cleaner.
i am the greatest auntie.
i am the greatest sister.
i am the bestest girlfriend.
i am the most generous person you know.
i am the most thoughtful person you know.
i am the most nurturing person you know.
i am the most like Jesus.

by now you're probably nauseous! i don't blame you. this is silly. obviously i don't believe any of that stuff. but i have thought it. mostly because i have been told it. i remember sitting in my pew as a little girl listening to the guest speaker at church saying, "this is my lovely wife. church don't you know i was blessed with the most beautiful woman in the world! and in the first row are my 3 children. God has blessed me with the most amazing, talented, God-fearing kids." i remember thinking "hmm...that's what the most beautiful woman in the world looks like? and what's so special about those kids?" there was a seed of competition planted in me on that day and a seed of flattery planted within that man's family. when someone compares us to another human being (apart from Christ), it's as if we are being set up to fail... tested even. comparison kills.

since then i have heard it time and time again. sometimes word for word, but mostly in different variations. i often refuse to check my facebook on sunday mornings because i get urrghhdd with all the "best church", "favourite speaker", "pastor so & so really tore it up today" commentary. it's goofy. sorry, but it is. and it's... dare i say, "anti-Christ". it directly goes against the flow of what Christ set up for His Church. flattery kills.

i'm not in the mood to point fingers today. my hands are sore from all the typing of how amazing i am. but i just wanted to possibly get us to stop and think for a moment... "why do we say goofy stuff like that?" "how does it profit us and how does it endanger us and others?"



"...we will not compare ourselves with each other as if one of us were better and another worse. We have far more interesting things to do with our lives. Each of us is an original." Galatians 6:4 Msg

perhaps it's time to move on to those "far more interesting things" to do with our lives and steer clear of foolish flattery and mindless comparisons. perhaps;-)