“Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual but as worldly – mere infants in Christ. I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. You are still worldly. for since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere men? For when one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere men?

What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe – as The Lord has assigned each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The man who plants and the man who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.” -1 Corinthians 2:16

Jealousy is a passion that cause us to do some weird, awful, not well thought out things. Thinking to times when you’ve been jealous, you don’t act like yourself right? You get vindictive and try to bring that other person down, so you feel better about yourself. Jealousy has caused people to troll Facebook at 2am looking at random photos of friends or frenemies slightly judging their lives and secretly wishing that you had what they had at the same time.

Weird, right? We do some weird things when we are jealous.Whether it is jealousy for a significant others’ attention or jealousy and of another for their talents, possessions, or appearances. We often get jealous of others because we play the comparison game of accomplishments. We look at another person’s journey and think, “Why can’t that be mine?” And instead of figuring out what you are passionate about you begin to mimic another person’s journey trying to make it your own. The reason that the other person is so successful in the achievements is because it is their passion, their purpose, and what God is calling them to do.

I have some bloggers that I follow and admire tremendously. I used to wish that my writing and my website looked like theirs. But then I realized that the reason that their blog is so great is because it is a reflection of their personality, style, passion, and message. It was authentically them. I can’t be them, I can only be me. Instead, I use their writings to inspire me to find my own style and flair for my own blog. They inspire me to new ideas and to constantly do better. That’s how we should be for each other. We should continue to inspire one another to be greater and the best that we as an individual can be.

So stop comparing yourself to what others have and what you don’t. As Paul says, you are still worldly because of jealousy and quarreling. Paul called the church infants, not ready for what God had for them next. I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t live off of milk for meals for the rest of my life, so why is the bare minimum of sustenance okay in our spiritual life? Paul compares these Christians to infants meaning they lack spiritual maturity. It takes a mature person to be secure in themselves and to not be jealous of another. Paul reminds them that they are all necessary in God’s work that every person has a purpose and a piece of building God’s kingdom – ‘for we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.’

If we are so focused on trying to do each other’s purpose or task, then what God is trying to create will never be complete. It takes all of us to build God’s kingdom no matter how big or small the task may be.

I propose instead of getting jealous and trying to replicate another’s journey or task, why not use it to inspire ourselves to find out what it is that God has for us. There is nothing wrong with surrounding yourself with the best of the best to make you better and stronger. Use jealousy to inspire your own journey. We all have been called to do something uniquely great and all under one purpose.

Who are the women in your life that inspire you? Tweet me @blaynejohn and use #womenwhoinspire.