Compare! Compare!—No, Connect! Connect!

I am not a tailor, a surveyor, or a carpenter, and yet I carry a measuring tape everywhere I go. I pull it out on all types of occasions, to measure a variety of people and situations. Don't worry, I won't try to sell you a new suit. My measuring tape stretches to five feet and nine inches. I only use it to measure one length: whether you are taller than me, or vice versa. If the former, then I will give you my jealousy, if the latter, my disdain.

My natural instinct is always jumping to judgement. My ocular organs not only perceive the world, but are always testing, comparing, and judging. I look at that friend, I look at this friend, and I want to judge. He has a wife and a real job, I'm such a looser. He still plays video games and doesn't read anything serious, he's such a looser.

And it is all so wrong, and silly, and forgetful. You see, one day I met a man named Christ, and I couldn't measure him. I gave Christ my measuring tape, and he broke it into a dozens bits. "Please sir," I asked, "What am I supposed to measure with now?" "With Me," he said. This was a puzzle. "But sir," I said, "I can't stand you very well next to any of my friends, or against people I read about."

He smiled at me with compassion. "No, my child, I don't work like that." Then he asked, "Do you feel short next to me?" "Yes Lord." "Good. For you truly are. Remember this, remember how short you are, always. Here, I will give you several inches of your measuring tape. Let this remind you how short you are. But don't despair. If you will take it, I will also give you food that will make you tall like me. Only always remember your broken measuring tape."

But I forget. I forget that my tape has been broken, and I keep trying to measure that way. You may see me sneaking around with a few inches of measuring tape, still trying to measure others. Now and again I run into Christ, and he still looks at me with compassion. He always shows me my measuring tape—the broken pieces he keeps in his pocket.

"No, don't keep measuring, my child. Don't judge like that. Don't you see, I have already judged you, and I do judge you, but I also give you mercy. Look at me, see the scars I bear for you, and connect. Connect, not compare."