I’m sure you have driven through a tunnel before. Well, my family used to play this game when we drove through tunnels where we would try to hold our breath all the way through the tunnel until we could see the sky again. It’s easy if you go through a short tunnel. But road trips always seemed to lead to the super long tunnel where you can’t see the end and your stuck holding your breath until the end, giving up early, or just pretending you held it the whole way but secretly breathing through your nose the whole time! …That’s what I did! 😉

I think we feel like we are in tunnels often. Not real tunnels, but tunnels in our mind. Social media, the internet, and really anything that captivates our attention quickly, pulls us into a tunnel that is hard to get out of.

And I’m sure you have felt this before. You look up at the clock after what seemed like five minutes, and it’s an hour and half later. And all you’ve done is scroll, scroll, and scroll on your device.

Often when we find ourselves in a tunnel, we are easily drawn to comparison. We keep scrolling because we want to see who else we can compare ourselves too. Sometimes it’s out of a desire to become more like that person (or at least their post) and other times it’s out of a desire to prove yourself better than others. Either way, comparison pulls you into a tunnel that is hard to escape.

I recently wrote a blog about comparison, noting that gratitude is the antidote of comparison. I believe that gratitude is the way out of the tunnel of comparison that we too often find ourselves trapped in.

Each night before I go to bed, I write down one thing I’m thankful for on a sticky note and put it on the back of my bedroom door. This can be a person, a thing, an event …really anything! The trick is, I have to come up with something new each day! So I can’t write down “Fridays” every time it’s Friday since that word is already on my door. Ending my day with gratitude helps me remember what is important in life and to spend time being thankful instead of comparing myself to others.

The reason why I think gratitude, out of all things, is what combats comparison is because of what comparison is and the effects it has on us as human beings. Comparison is when we look at someone else and see either something we want or something we are glad we don’t have, which leads us to coveting and judgment of others. Comparison also shows a lack of true identity. Comparison eats away at our time, our money, our desires, and orients us to false stories. When we compare ourselves to others, we are not taking time to be grateful for the things God has given to us. Instead, we are believing that God has not given us what is sufficient to have in life, or He has messed up on us. Comparison begins to cause us to have a judgmental spirit towards others, leading us to unkindness, envy, bitterness, anger, and so much more.

There are an incredible amount of verses in the Bible about gratitude, so I don’t need to go through them all here. But one of my favorites will do this point justice.

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

God tells us in His word exactly what His will for us is! And that is to rejoice! To Pray! And to give thanks! If we have a sure and grounded identity in God, knowing that He made us in His image in the exact way He designed from the beginning, we can trust that He made us different than others for a purpose! And because of that, we can give thanks. This is part of our purpose as humans! Instead of spending time scroll on Instagram, seeing all the things you wish you had, and seeing how you measure up to others, God tells us to rejoice, pray, and give thanks in all things.

Spend some time this week looking up verses on gratitude. And then start a journal where you write down something you are thankful for each day. Taking time out of your day to give thanks to God for His good gifts is something well worth your time. And I can tell you from experience, gratitude is something that changes my perspective, encourages me when I’m feeling down, insignificant, or insufficient, and keeps me grounded to what is true.