Overrated Best

Growing up,  we were encouraged to work hard "to be the best and be outstanding among your peers". In our innocence, we believed what we were told as the way to live. As we grew, those words raised structures and formed strongholds in our lives. We always wanted to be the best.

So as adults, in whatever we find ourselves doing, as much as there are other people in that space, we naturally function at our capacity "to be the best and outstanding among our peers". 

Being at the top is not a bad idea. But what happens when there is no top or better still, you are the only one in that space? What will be your motivation for improvement? What if there is no one to compare yourself with, would you be the person you are now? Or now that you are at the top of the chain or web and no one seems to be above you, how do you plan to sustain yourself?

However, when they measure themselves with themselves and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding and behave unwisely (2 Corinthians 10:12, AMP).

A lot of times, the concept of being outstanding and the best has been presented as a do-or-die affair. You are nobody if you are not at the top. This kind of mindset is not healthy for a child neither is it for an adult.

If your concept of being the best is to be better than someone else or a group of people, you are wasting potentials and that is not even a good enough life, not to talk of the best. This kind of best is overrated.

Let's say, you are the richest, wisest, funniest, most talented, and all kinds of qualifications that make you the "best". What else can you offer? By your own yardstick, if anyone comes along, will you still be able to hold that title? Are you still relevant if new methods or ways are discovered? 

But there is a way to channel your energy, capacity, and resources. It could seem like the same thing, but the end goal is exceptional and fulfilling. It is the path of being BETTER.

Better, not in comparison with the people around you but with YOURSELF. Paul the Apostle, who we regard as "the best" apostle in his day said "by no means do I count my­self an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus" (Philippians 3:14; MSG). 

There is more to be done. If you must compare, do it between your goals and your achievement, not with any other person. The enemy of your success is the last one you had. You have to keep moving not focusing on what others are doing or not doing. Your best might just be another person's good enough. You don't have to walk in the capacity of their best.

Be the person, your Father in Heaven has purposed you to be. If you try to be like other people, you might not know who you are again at the end of the journey and you will be stuck in other people's shadow, doing the things that are unfulfilling.

As Christians, understand that Christ is in you, working you to perfection. Know that our paths, goals, capacity, and mission are different. If you think you've arrived when you compare yourself with other people, you can cheat yourself because there is always MORE. 

Desire to be more. Best is overrated because it camps people and keep them as in a mediocre space. But "better", is a realm of improvement. Let's keep moving. There always a higher calling. The best is yet to come.

Shalom!