Strong Dads - The Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector - Episode 212

Are you better than your neighbor, or at least do you think you are better? Your knee-jerk Christian answer might be a quick "no", but the reality of it is that most of us fall into comparison traps on a regular basis.  You often hear comments like, "well, at least I'm not last", "at least I'm not as bad as they are", "at least I never did what that guy did".  Comments like this are indicative of the human nature to compare and then apply self-grace in order to relieve us of guilt or responsibility. 

In the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector, we see this behavior.  We see the Pharisee rationalizing his behaviors in a comparison as if he though his goodness should be determined by how he behaves compared to another person.  The problem with this common thinking is that we are setting the bar way too low.  All people fall short!  There is always someone that is going to be doing better or worse at some area of life than you. 
So who should we compare ourselves to?  Jesus Christ.  When you do this you realize that no amount of rationalization or handicapping will place you on even ground with Christ.

With this understanding we move to the next level of understanding about our goodness.  We can only be made "good" through Jesus Christ.  He must carry us by his grace and his pathway.  We can't begin to do it on our own.  When we submit to Christ so that we can be carried by Christ, we no longer have to live in the comparison game.  We no longer have to strive to look better and make others look worse.  We can begin to understand that all of us are accepted into God's grace.

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