Instead of looking to your left and right for your value and worth, look vertically towards your Creator and God – what He affirms you in is eternal. 

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Live Vertically 

Krista Hengesh 

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” – Colossians 3:1-4

“I don’t own clothing as nice as that women did. I am not as put together as she was. I wish I had the fashion that lady has. Did you see her makeup, why can’t I be talented like that.”

“These people are all doing things… what am I doing with my life?”

THAT THOUGHT LITERALLY WENT THROUGH MY HEAD!

Four days after tangibly seeing the result of all my hard work for the past 6 months come to fruition, after preaching about how to not let comparison invade your thoughts and consume your mind, after experiencing a moment of realization that leading Live Salted is who I was created to be (a Maslow’s self-actualization kinda moment), comparison shot me down as I walked through the streets of New York today. I found myself looking at everyone around me; people I have never seen before and will never see again, comparing myself to them. I was looking to my left and to my right for my worth- sizing up who I am because of who they were… well, at least who I perceived them to be from the outside.

This habit of falling into comparison, consciously or not, is not something that only I struggle with. Now that I am more aware of it, and know how to combat it, I am determined to walk forward in the freedom of who I am in Christ.

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Live To Please God Not Man

The comparison game plagues us all, and it is scary how fast we can fall into playing.

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” – Galatians 1:10

When we look to others for our worth. We basically ask ourselves, am what I doing, wearing, or who I am good enough for someone else.

We need to look vertically for our identity, instead of horizontally to our left and right. 

Galatians 1:10 tells us that if we are living to please people than we cannot be servants of Christ, and if we are told that Jesus came to give us “life and life to the full” (John 10:10) and instructed us to live as “disciples sent out on a mission” (Matthew 28:19) in order to discover this “life abundant,” then we need to live as a “servant of Christ” and not live to please people.

Trust me this is hard. People pleasing and comparison have been big areas of weakness in my life since before I can remember and an area that I struggle with greatly, but the impact of this struggle can be reduced. It just takes training, practice, and a shift in your perspective.

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Your Training Regime 

When you hear these comparative thoughts in your mind and the arrows of attack from the devil start flying in, work to recognize them as lies as quickly as possible and then decide to stand for the truth. Choose to fight for your true value and worth. This will seem foreign at first, but literally call out the lie and then say a truth that corresponds to it.

Here are some examples from the lies that I shared at the beginning of this post:

• I am not as fashionable as that woman → My passions lie elsewhere than in clothing and shoes
• I don’t own clothing as nice as that woman → I chose to spend my money on other areas of my life that I care more about
• I am not as put together as she is → No one is as put together as they seem, you are not alone in this struggle to “have it all figured out”
• Did you see her makeup, why can’t I be talented like that? → You are talented, just in different ways, and f you want to be good at makeup, make time for it and learn the skill.

It truly is a perspective shift that happens in the mind, an awareness that develops as you start to discern where your thoughts come from and what is good and from the Lord, and what is a lie from the devil.

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More Tools To Fight A Horizontal Mindset

1) Be curious about WHO they are, not WHAT they show on the outside. Ask yourself, what are the unique giftings the Lord has put in their life that are shown through the things I am noticing in them? What is it that they might be struggling with? How could I be an encouragement to them? Is the Lord making me aware of them for a reason, should I go start up a conversation?

2) If you stare, make sure you share. If there is a characteristic, a possession, or anything of which you find yourself attracted to in a person instead of just keeping it inside of you, tell them! Take all of that energy that might root itself in jealousy or envy and turn it into admiration by simply giving them a compliment and calling them out for it in a good way!

3) Remind yourself of what you are good at. We are not all called to be fashion designers, or makeup artists, or athletes, or models, or speakers, or comedians, or [….] BUT we are all called to live into exactly who we are called to be. To use the “grace apportioned to us” (Ephesians 4:7) to the best of our abilities. You were not called to do it all. You were called to do what God created you to do and to do it well.

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Set Your Mind On Things Above

“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory” – Colossians 3:1-4

This whole idea of “living vertically” is about living for things that matter in Heaven. Living to please the Lord and not the people to your left and to your right. Living to store up riches where “moth and rust cannot destroy” (Matthew 6:21). Living focused on the things that have eternal value. This mindset is a process ladies and it takes training, but with time and intentional effort, it will result in a newfound freedom that you will never have experienced before. Trust me, it is worth all the time it takes.

“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” – Matthew 6:21