The Comparison Trap: Eight Ways to Avoid It

Sometimes I look at the work of other authors and feel my abilities fall short. It doesn’t matter that God’s call is unmistakable, it’s still too easy to wonder if he can really use what I do. But it doesn’t matter if I am not as talented, or intelligent, or educated as other writers. God wants me to use what he’s given me for his purposes and the blessing of others.

Since you might struggle like I do, I’d like to share some steps you can take to avoid becoming ensnared by the dreaded comparison trap. 

Just Show Up: You win half the battle when you just sit yourself down before your computer or pad and pencil. “Lord, help me here. I feel dry and dull and I don’t know how to do this.” Then just dive in and start writing, no matter how terrible your efforts seem. The enemy of your soul likes nothing better than to discourage you and “just showing up” is an act of spiritual warfare.

Practice gratitude: The Lord is good and gives so many good things. Gratitude shifts your focus from the gift to the giver and opens your heart to receive more from him. Thank him for the gift he’s given you, for what he helps you to write, and the results that come from it. Gratitude is an act of worship. And just as importantly, thank the Lord for those other authors and what he’s given them.

Adjust your focus: It’s not about you. Keep your eyes on the Lord. If you worry about what you can produce, if you can impress, if people will like you or read what you’ve written, you’ve fallen into the pride trap. With a humble heart, offer up your gift and efforts to God, eager to see what he will do with them. 

Examine Your Priorities: What’s important to you will drive your life and your writing and decide their final outcomes. Success as a Christians writer depends on your greatest priority: intimate relationship and fellowship with your heavenly Father. That’s when the rivers of living water that Jesus promised can flow out of you through your writing to the spiritually thirsty. 

Look at the heart: As human beings, we are drawn to the outward appearance. It’s not about if you write as well as the next person but if your heart is lined up with God and his purposes. It’s when you are worried about producing or performing, trying to measure up, or “meet your quota” that writer’s block attacks.

Relinquish control and trust God: Your talents were never yours to begin with, so turn over the controls. God wants to use you and your writing to expand his kingdom. Ask him who your target audience should be and what and how he wants you to write to them. As you write with his help, ask the Holy Spirit to minister to the hearts of your readers. He can take just a few sentences from your article or a paragraph from your book and use it to change a life that will then touch others and echo through eternity.

Refine and grow your skills: Although it’s not about how talented or smart you are, working towards improving your skills is a necessity. Studies show it takes at least 10,000 hours of doing something to master it. Read books on writing, attend seminars and conferences, complete writing exercises designed to develop your proficiency. Network with and learn from other writers with more experience. Study the classics and see how those authors did it. 

Never give up: Someone once said that the one way to ensure something never happens is to give up. You are employing your talents for the Lord and for his kingdom, and he calls you to faithfulness. He never gives up on you so don’t you quit either. 

This is not about competition, about seeing who can be the most successful or productive. That’s the world’s mindset. It’s about joyfully working together to bring God glory. Falling prey to the comparison trap hinders your own creativity. But remembering it’s all about God and the needs of others will free you to be all he meant you to be as an individual and as an artist.

Cheryl Weber is located in beautiful Lancaster County PA and enjoys writing fiction, devotionals, and the occasional humor piece. She has ministered in a dozen different nations in missions and as staff of the School of Writing with Youth With a Mission. In the fall of 2017, she served as a journalist for a medical team working with YWAM Ship’s ministry in Papua New Guinea. Just a few of her stories from that trip can be found on her website at:  https://cheryllynneweber.com/cheryls-recent-adventures/