We live in a culture of comparisons. That thought hit me while watching Thanksgiving football last year. I noticed that when the TV flashed through the pictures of the starting lineups, they didn’t just have the guys’ names, positions, and alma maters. They also had a comparison. This receiver is the 27th best in the NFL. This linebacker is the 19th out of whatever at his position. Think about that—These guys are the 1 percent of the 1 percent, men who worked and trained and hustled to become professionals and then NFL starters, yet what do we still do with them? We compare.

That’s our culture, right? More than ever before, we compile the data, run the numbers, spit out the analytics, and compare everything. Height, weight, income, impact, sales, speed, square footage, everything. But when the numbers aren’t in your favor, that comparison can crush you. It can make you feel worthless, unimportant, and unnecessary.

Thank God that our Father isn’t into comparisons. Rather, he uniquely knits us together in our mothers’ wombs (Psalm 139:13). He determines the specific times and places where we should live (Acts 17:24-28). His Spirit blesses us with gifts that our neighbors lack (1 Corinthians chapter 12). For God, there are no apples-to-apples comparisons with people, because every human is unique in the grand plan of the kingdom of heaven.

So let culture do its thing. You, however, remember these life-giving, pressure-reducing words: “You knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:13,14).