It’s hard to believe that summer is finished and now we have to close down the pool again—it makes me really sad for some reason. Probably because we didn’t really use the pool this year due to the mild weather we had.
This morning, I looked over at my neighbor’s yard and saw that he had closed his pool already. This is not a big surprise because in our neighborhood, he’s always the first to open his pool and the first to close his pool; but what was shocking is that the people behind us also closed their pool. Oh oh—we’re late this year.
As we drove to the store today I noticed that somebody’s pool was still open. “Oh good,” I thought, “We’re not the only one with our pool still open. It’s not that bad!”
It’s funny that there is a lot of pressure to maintain certain standards in the community—when to close the pool, when to cut the lawn, when to pull weeds, etc. In a way, it’s like peer pressure, but a good kind of peer pressure—the kind that forces you to do positive things.
It made me realize that when we are falling “below standards,” we tend to look for others who are “in the same boat” just so we don’t feel so bad about ourselves.
Galatians 6:4 says, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else” (NLT).
I think it’s great that my two neighbors are opening and closing their pool by a certain date—they are good examples for me to follow.
Now, I need to make sure that I am opening and closing my own pool, and I shouldn’t look for people who aren’t opening or closing their pool just to relieve the guilt I feel because I haven’t opened or closed my pool.
I think the same principle applies to our Christian walk…
Copyright © 2013 Dr. M. Teresa Trascritti
Tagged: Christian walk, compare, comparing yourself to others, good example, neighbors, pool closing, pool opening, positive influence, standards
