Not So White

Read: Psalm 51:7; Philippians 2:1-11

“I’m glad I’m not like Rachel,” Mackenna said as she gazed at the falling snow through the car window.

“What do you mean?” Mom asked with a slight frown.

“Well, Rachel is kinda—oh, I don’t know—stuck on herself a bit. Whenever we talk, she does most of the talking, and it’s usually about all the things she’s good at.” Mackenna rolled her eyes. “What an ego!”

“Rachel is good at a lot of things,” said Mom. “But so are you! You don’t think you have an ego?” She gave Mackenna a sideways glance.

“Of course not! Do you ever hear me bragging about what I can do?”

“No, but that doesn’t mean your heart is humble. And isn’t your heart what we really should be concerned about?” Mom pulled into the driveway and turned off the engine. “Tell you what, why don’t you go get Bumpkin and let her run around outside for a while?”

Mackenna gave her mother a confused look, but she went and got her pet bunny.

“Before you set her down,” Mom said, “tell me what color Bumpkin is.”

Mackenna laughed as they both looked down at the fuzzy bunny. “White, of course!”

“Are you sure?” Mom asked. “Put her down in the snow.”

Mackenna set her rabbit down at the edge of the snowy yard and stood back. “Ew!” she said. “She looks so dirty!”

“Yep,” agreed Mom. “She doesn’t look so white anymore! Snow has a way of making other white objects look gray.” Mom turned to Mackenna. “It’s the same with us. We may think we’re pretty good when we compare ourselves to other people. But when we compare our hearts to Jesus, we see how dirty they really are.”

Mackenna nodded sheepishly. “I guess when I compare myself to Jesus, I’m a lot like Rachel after all.”

“We all are,” said Mom. “That’s why Jesus died on the cross for our sins. When we trust in Him and ask Him to forgive us for the wrong we do, He makes our hearts whiter than snow!”

“I guess I need to remember that when I’m around Rachel,” Mackenna said as she watched Bumpkin hop around in the snow. “And ask Jesus to forgive me for comparing myself to her instead of Him.”

–Rebecca Thomas

How about you? Do you ever compare yourself to others? It may make you feel better about yourself sometimes, but it doesn’t give an accurate picture of what your heart is really like. Jesus is the only perfect standard. When we compare ourselves to Him, it’s easy to see our hearts are dirty with sin—but He can make them whiter than snow. (To learn more, go to Have You Heard the Good News?)

Today's Key Verse: They are only comparing themselves with each other, using themselves as the standard of measurement. How ignorant! 2 Corinthians 10:12 (NLT)

Today's Key Thought: Compare yourself to Jesus