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Tomorrow can be different from today.
Our lives often leave us feeling hopeless—like nothing will ever change. But perspective is everything. When you know where to look, hope can be found in the spaces and places you least expect.
Join Jason Gore (Lead Pastor of Hope Community Church) for a fresh perspective, practical steps, and weekly encouragement that hope really is possible… even in real life.
Welcome to the Hope and Real Life Podcast with Jason Gore.
Our team is passionate
and committed to bringing you more hope in the everyday
real areas of your life.
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Let's get the conversation started.
What's going on? Hope in real life family
hope you are doing well.
This episode, we are gonna be talking about something
that can cause a lot of us to slow down, maybe put energy
and effort into the wrong places in life.
And it is the comparison trap.
I'm here with my good buddy, Matt Curtis. Hey, yo.
Uh, he is heralded as the leader of our fuquay campus, uh,
our here at Hope Community Church down in the great town
of Fuqua Dash Farina.
That's it. And we,
and we have Bradford here with us as well,
doing a little co-host.
How you guys doing today? Good, man. Good. Yeah.
How would you say you're doing in
comparison to one another? Oh,
I am definitely doing better.
I'm better than I deserve, so. Okay.
Well, well played. Well played. Alright. Comparison.
Listen, I'm gonna jump in.
I know this is probably, uh, not something
that everybody else struggles with,
but I, I wanna bring this in.
Like I want to, I wanna make this safe to be real. Yeah.
Uh, for all of us. Uh, it was, uh, let's see,
I think it was, uh, let's call it the first, uh, quarter,
first half of the year in 2021.
And, uh, our church where we're kind of based out of, like,
obviously everybody who listened
to this isn't a part of a church.
That's cool. We are so glad you're here.
Um, but I was asked to move into,
after our founding pastor retired, I was asked
to move into the role of lead pastor
of Hope Community Church.
This huge, uh, mega church
that's like making an impact all over the world.
And the reality is it was kind of a quick retirement.
There wasn't a succession plan in place.
I was serving in the role of executive pastor,
kind of working behind the scenes.
And I, I, I felt super comfortable mm-hmm. In that skillset.
You know, it's something that I've, I've been a coach,
you know, for, uh, many, for a couple decades, right?
And so I felt like that was kind of my role.
I know how to do this. And then it was like, okay,
and then now you gotta start speaking regularly in front
of thousands of people was
never really anything that I had done.
And the truth is, our founding pastor was like elite level,
like world class.
This guy is one of the best communicators in front
of people that I've ever heard.
And to this day, and like all this pressure of, okay,
now I have to be like that guy, right?
And I have to communicate like that guy,
and I have to be able to be winsome and win the heart.
And look, I might have a lot
of skills, to be honest with you.
Being winsome is probably not one of them.
Um, and man, with that comes a ton of pressure
and expectations and it, uh, it actually limits.
Like, what I found was the more I tried to live into
how do I be like that guy, the more uncomfortable I became.
Mm-hmm. And it was like stifling.
It was almost like the less, um, able I was
to actually live in, to what it was that I needed to do.
And, and I'll, I'll be honest with you,
here we are three years later and I still struggle with it.
Yeah. But I got to a point to where I realized that,
I'm telling you, I told my wife,
and I've told some people close to like,
I cannot do this the other way.
Right? Like, I'm 40.
At that point, I was 43,
and this is probably very recent,
like within the last year that I got to this point.
So I'm 45 years old.
Um, I have gone through life circumstances
that other people haven't gone through.
I have life experiences that other people have gone through
that have shaped me, that have molded me.
If I'm gonna do this, yeah. I gotta do it my way.
And it might not be the way that all
of the same people loved the way before,
but I'll tell you something I don't have a shot at doing
is being somebody else.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Like, I can literally only be the person
that God's made me to be.
Yeah. And, and if that's not enough to get it done,
and I had this conversation
before God, it was like, if, if who I am is not enough
to get it done mm-hmm.
Then you're gonna have to get somebody else
because it's so much pressure and weight
and you don't even enjoy it.
No. Like, trying to do something
or be something that somebody else was.
And I think when we get to this comparison thing, you,
you've, you gotta stop
and ask yourself when you're comparing yourself
to someone else or something else, like who told you that
that was your path.
Mm-hmm. 'cause you just might have a different path. Mm-hmm.
Right? And so for me, man, it's a real thing
and I still deal with it in, in a number of different areas,
but that's the one that is most specific.
So anyways, for what it's worth, I just thought it'd be good
to come right outta the gate and say, we all struggle
with this stuff, let's be honest about it.
Yeah. And it's just intrinsic.
It's not nobody told you to think that way
or told you to lead like him.
It's just our natural response is to compare
Ourselves. In fact, other people
probably said
that like, Hey, just be you.
It's like, oh, cool, thanks for the advice. Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, in leadership, authentic
and genuine is all we can be.
Otherwise, you're a fraud. Right.
And the person who first knows you're a fraud is you. Right.
So you gotta be yourself. Yep. That's good.
Thanks for sharing that, man. Yeah.
Yeah. So on that, I mean, you don't have to speak to
that exact thing if you don't want to,
but what would you all say is the root of that?
Like, is it a, like are there insecurities?
What are those like?
And then maybe that's actually the answer
and I just jumped the gun.
But,
You know, I think it's, uh, it's just like, you know,
in the last episode we talked about pride.
I think it's, uh, yeah. These
Two go hand In hand. It's
so insidious. It's really small. It sneaks in.
You don't realize where, where, where it comes from.
But I think a lot of it comes from fear of fear of failure.
Oh yeah. Fear. Fear of not being enough in,
in other people's eyes.
Yeah. And so fear of letting
others, maybe that's what it is.
You know, there's other people. So you feel the pressure
of other people's expectations.
Mm-hmm. And then you look, watch this,
surely I'm not enough.
Mm-hmm. So I gotta be something else.
Fear of your understanding of other people's expectations.
Yeah. Because they're probably
not even expecting that from you.
Right. But you're projecting it on them. Right.
And working out of a place. It's just all lies. Yeah.
Yeah. That was actually the,
the next thing I was gonna ask,
but you touched on is like, okay, do,
how does it affect our self worth?
But that's, that's basically what we're, we're getting at.
'cause I, I know, I think I, I'm pretty hard on myself
and I think that I'm not good at something,
but then I I I have to be like real, it's like Yeah.
You're comparing yourself to one person,
which is even the other thing about it, it's like you,
you don't have to be the best at stuff, but it's like,
because I think there's some helpfulness that can come
with comparison because it's good to measure where you're at
and where you measure up in certain areas.
Right. And it, this topic, like I said, goes hand in hand
with like, we talked about pride in the last episode.
Mm-hmm. Like, there's like this line,
like measuring yourself up against people can be healthy
when it's in the regards to when it's in regards to like
how you're getting better in, in a, in an idea, in a sport,
in a subject, in a technique you have or whatever.
Sure. But it's just
because somebody else may be better than you.
Doesn't mean you're terrible either.
Like, that's that's, well,
You might be terrible at what they're good at.
Yeah. I mean, the truth, you know, in, in the,
in the way that they are good at it.
Yeah. You know? Sure. I mean, in leadership,
like if you're in, if you're leading an organization,
y your goal is not to do it the way someone else did it.
Right. The goal is to get the job done. Mm-hmm.
Um, Matt, you and I are similar in some ways.
We're probably different in some ways, right? Yeah.
Um, you're by how are we similar by? What's that?
How are we similar? We both have, we're bald.
We both have beards. Whatcha gonna say?
We're both like, uh, hilariously humorous individuals. Yeah.
Wonderful sense of humor.
Uh, but now you distracted me.
Uh, what, what was I saying before? You said Oh yeah.
We don't have to do it. The, the,
the organization we're you and I are similar Yeah.
But by God's gr but we're also different.
But by God's grace and mercy, um,
hopefully we can both lead healthy families.
Yeah. But we're probably gonna
get there a little differently.
There's gonna be some foundational
principles that are the same.
Yeah. Uh, and so I think we, we don't have
to be good at the same exact things.
Yeah. You know, it's, you know,
and, uh, there's a story in the Bible where David is, uh,
this, uh, little shepherd boy David is about
to go fight this giant Goliath, right?
Mm-hmm. And, um, uh, they, his at attendants try to get him
to put on Saul's armor like the other king's armor.
Well, the armor doesn't fit. Mm-hmm.
And David's like, I, I, I can't do it that way. Right.
I can't put on that armor. That's not what I do.
That's not how I fight. I'm gonna go in there with a sling.
I can't swing a sling with this big heavy armor.
Now I'm conge using a little conjecture.
I don't know that if he actually said that,
but I know he didn't wear it,
and I know he got the job done.
Yeah. And so, yeah.
I think, you know, Ray, uh, a guy by the name of Ray Dalio,
he wrote this book called Principles.
And in the book he talks about how you can't expect people
to do things that they are not genetically
predispositioned to do.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so, um, if you are not really,
really good at something, yes, you can work on it,
but you probably need
to find some other strengths that you have.
Right. And lean into those
to still be able to get the same job done.
And it's gonna look different. It's gonna move differently.
It's gonna smell differently. It's gonna feel different.
Right. But that doesn't
mean that the job's not getting done. Yeah.
That's good. Yeah.
That was, that's another point that you,
you pointed out too, was talking about when you look at
somebody else, it's not just about like, if you're leading,
other people don't, and this is another nugget, right.
Another direction. But it's like flipping the table.
Like if you're gonna judge somebody else, if you're a leader
of an organization or like parents,
why can't you be more like your brother?
Like something like, you know, like if you're like,
comparison of other people that you're in charge over
and thinking they all need to be the same.
Yeah. I mean, you're, that's a whole nother thing.
And that leads to, that's poor leadership.
Uh, man, I've heard like if you judge a fish by
how well it can climb a tree mm-hmm.
I forget how that thing is. It's
Gonna fail every time. Every
time. Yeah. Yeah.
But like, it's, it's a,
that's another flip flop to the opposite side.
Another, uh, way to look at that conversation. Yeah.
So that was, that's just a good point to sit on too.
Yeah. One of our, uh, sons, uh, he is our,
well, I'll just leave it at that.
One of our sons, he, uh,
he has some different issues than I do.
Right. Uh, I'm, uh,
always been able to connect well with people.
I was okay in school, all that stuff.
And as he gets older, I keep, I have this thought in my mind
and it makes me feel bad,
but I'm like, man, why can't you just be more like me?
Hmm. And I'm comparing my 9-year-old son. Yeah.
To me socially.
And, uh, and then, I mean, kind of full circle here is, uh,
I'm fairly introverted.
I like space and time. You
And Jillian are a lot alike.
We are, man. She is a firecracker.
And I am the water you put one in, uh,
How many times have you used that line?
Uh, usually I go with, uh, Tigger and eor,
but more poo bear than anything.
Anyways, uh, we came home one day
and we were out doing all kinds of things.
Baseball game, basketball game, uh,
just some church activities.
Sounds miserable. Time home,
like you name is back to back to back to back.
And, uh, we got home, said, Hey, come on man.
We gotta, we gotta go to somebody's house to do something.
He's like, yeah, full volume.
I just need some time alone.
And I was like, bro, you are like me. It's okay.
But I, I felt like I was leading in poorly, even internally,
by thinking, man, why can't you just be like me?
Yeah. And that's poor leadership. Mm-hmm.
How about this one? Like, comparison, not necessarily
for yourself and, you know, and how you lead
or expectations on other people,
but, um, how about like, hey, this person has
that and I want that. Mm-hmm.
Sure. Um, I want a boat.
I've wanted a boat for a long time. Yeah.
Uh, the truth is, I don't really live,
I'm not in a life stage, not a boat guy.
If I had a boat, it would sit in my driveway.
I mean, we spend every Saturday at wrestling tournaments
with no, granted, that's in the winter.
But I don't know that. Um,
but like, there are times where, uh,
there, there are things that we want.
Yeah. And they, and we think, well, man,
if I haven't accomplished that, if I don't have a paycheck
that's that high, if I don't have this much money in my
bank account mm-hmm.
Um, I'm not getting it done in
life. You guys have any of those?
Yeah, sure. Man, this is
this, this, uh, this may be really real.
Um, I have some friends who travel a lot.
They go to different places in the us they go
to different countries.
And I'm like, I wanna do that.
Yeah. Travel's So bad. Yeah.
And I look at that and I, I, I don't know their situation,
but I, I completely,
but I just know that their, their marriage has had struggles
and they don't have, they don't have children.
I don't know the exact reason why, but God has reminded me,
and this doesn't speak to their exact situation,
but God has reminded me.
He's like, you have things that they probably wish they had.
Yeah. And you're fixated on this one thing. Yep.
And the comparison that God has called me
and reminded me to, is to be reminded that I have everything
that I need to carry out the calling
he has placed on my life.
Yep. Uh, I guess that's not a comparison, but,
and, um, that was for, I mean, like, I'm like,
that's hitting me right now.
But I've always thought that,
and God has always reminded me
that's like those moments you are sitting there praying
and asking for something to happen
or to achieve something, acquire something.
And you're feeling as though other people have
that, I want that.
It's just the reminder
that you have way more than you'll ever need to begin with.
Right. Like, this is all extra.
And that doesn't mean God doesn't wanna do other great
things for us or give us great things, you know?
'cause there's that scripture that says, you know, how many
of you want to give your children great things?
Like God also wants to do that for you. Right? Yeah.
Like when your kid asks for food
and you're not gonna give 'em a stone.
Like, that's bradford's paraphrase.
But I have done that
and I think it's human nature and it's coveting.
It's on the verge of that. But I have all I'll ever need,
and I, my my, at the end of the day,
I have a wonderful wife and two kids.
I'm gonna go home to here in a little bit. Yeah.
Spend some time with, and I still still do that
Hope in real life family.
We just wanna take a moment and let you know about a
resource that is available to you.
I know a lot of our listeners aren't necessarily active in a
church, might not even be a Christian.
We are still thankful that you're spending time with us.
However, we do get asked regularly,
how can we find out more about your church,
or even just about this Jesus guy.
And so if that is you, I want you to know you can tune in
to get Hope tv.
We have live services on Saturday, 4:15 PM and 6:00 PM
or on Sunday at 9:30 AM
or 11:15 AM Those are Eastern standard times.
If you can't tune in during those times,
we will drop our YouTube link as well
as our podcast link down in the show notes.
We would love to have you join in with us.
Let's keep sharing some hope. Yeah.
I've seen a, um, a, a picture
before, um, that just had a,
it was like a person sitting under a tree by themselves
and, you know, they kind of had this look of want,
but the text with the picture was, was like,
you've gotta remember, um, the young person wants to be old.
Mm-hmm. The old person wishes for youth. Yeah.
The, the, um, the, the person with time
wishes that they were important.
Yeah. The person that's important wishes they had time.
Right. I mean, you go down this thing, like, if we're not,
like we, we are, we have these insatiable appetites Right.
For what we don't have. Mm-hmm.
And if we don't recognize that
and just say, man, this, this will run us in the grave.
Yeah. You know, we can let our own desires
and aspirations run us into the grave having this sense
of inadequacy
and like, we're not experiencing what we were created
to experience when the truth is, I, you know,
I, we've been talking all day.
I don't know if I said this earlier or not,
but, um, we, we are
who we are based on the life experiences that we have.
We are exactly who we have been made to be Yeah.
In that moment. Um,
and then, you know, if you want to go full circle
and apply a, a biblical lens to it, you're um, exactly
who God has allowed you to become,
but that God also created you Yeah.
Um, for a, uh, to belong
and created you with a sense of purpose
that is unique to you.
It's not anyone else's road. Yeah.
And we've gotta stop and realize, like, who, who told you,
who told me that I needed something that I don't have?
Yeah. Um, and then that's where you start doing business
with yourself and then figuring, you know what,
maybe I am working now that doesn't mean goals are bad.
Right. It doesn't mean I'm putting plans and actions or,
but this is your journey.
That's not someone else's journey.
Yeah. There's a intrinsic in probably every human of,
uh, dissatisfaction.
Yeah. Where am I gonna find satisfaction if I get a boat
or more guitars, bigger muscles, I don't know, less weight,
you know, if I look the right way, way. Are those two
Things you feel that I care about?
I bet you have a lot of guitars. Yeah.
But like, uh, I think, I mean, it's hard to sit down
and do some work on what gives me satisfaction.
Um, and you gotta wrestle over some of that stuff
because some of those answers aren't good. Yeah.
Yeah. Comparison.
So a lot of times we get in this mindset of, um,
okay, for us to accomplish this, um, we need to,
to do it this way, or it needs to look like this.
And then that's our perspective that leads us
to a place sometimes
of maybe being competitive in the wrong areas.
Yeah. And I think sometimes opening our eyes to exactly
what is around us in our lives mm-hmm.
Um, can take us to a place of
maybe a little bit of collaboration.
So I've heard kind of this comparison thing
being minimized a bit when we can move from a co a
competitive mindset to a collaborative mindset.
Yeah. And, um, a lot of that has to do
with your perspective of going through life
and what you're trying to, am I trying
to accomplish something for me
or am I trying to accomplish something for we Yeah.
And we get our eyes so much. Okay. Let's personalize it.
I get my eyes so fixated on myself sometimes mm-hmm.
That it's easy to forget
that there are other people in my lives.
One thing that really helps me
with this comparative thing is, is again,
is getting my eyes off of myself
and how do I accomplish what it is
that I want to accomplish.
Mm-hmm. And then turn my attention to other people
and say, how do I help the people around me accomplish
what it is that we want to accomplish?
Yeah. And that tends to, to minimize the, the, the
desire for personal preferences.
Right. Um, the desire for, Hey, what is best
for me in this situation?
Mm-hmm. Um, curious if you guys have found yourself in a
situation like that or anything like that.
It's been beneficial or you've realized like, Hey, I, yeah.
I'm struggling with this.
Yeah. I mean, I think, uh, I think it's becomes normal
to be competitive and compare yourself
to other people and want something else.
Um, contentment is not where I live, you know, um,
just being content in the way things are.
I mean, you're a driven leader, uh, in this organization.
And we want, as an organization,
we wanna follow after that drive.
Um, so I think even in my own, some of my own comparisons,
compare myself to you the way that you lead
and you cast vision or these things.
Uh, and that's, I'm a little bit more passive.
Uh, and some of that I feel like is a
deficiency that I have.
And some of it probably is good
to balance me out a little bit.
Yeah. Some of it saves my butt to mess
With. You pump the brakes.
That's Right. Pull the hand brake.
Yeah. I live in, um, I live in like this,
I guess you could call it influencer world.
I really hate that title, but I, oh, we got
A big shot over here.
Look out. Yeah.
Anybody can be one.
You can, anybody can open an
account and start doing something.
Uh, and, and like the world I live in, like YouTube
and stuff, I make, I make product that I sell to guitarists,
that's part of my income.
And there are other people who do the same thing.
It'd be considered, uh, competition. Mm-hmm.
And one of the guys who lives in that space as well,
we were hanging out talking about something
and he, this has stuck with me,
and this is five plus years ago.
He goes, well, you know, like rising tides lift all boats.
Mm-hmm. And I was like, dang.
And like, it's still like, I
still talk to my business partner.
Like I bring that up all the time.
Like somebody, some new person,
some new group will rise up trying
to do something similar to us.
And I will say also like competition in this realm, like
that also helps innovation.
Um, you know, I really wish somebody would rise up against
Amazon 'cause they think they can tempt me
with their overnight delivery
and it doesn't show up till two days later.
I'm like, you losers. Where's the competition? Yeah.
It got me. But like, if we're, if I was honest with myself,
the times where I've collaborated
and offered help with things, it's come back to
help me in some way.
And it can almost seem like kind of like, um, manipulative.
But you know, that's, if that's the heart of things
and how you do it, eventually it's
gonna, it's gonna bite you in the butt.
But if you're genuinely trying to help other people succeed,
you only good things are going to happen.
Mm-hmm. Um, and that's just
that rising tide lifts all boats, rising tides,
lifts all boats, all ships, something like that.
Whatever you say. Yeah. That's good. You know,
you get the gist.
But competition is, is a good thing to a certain extent,
but collaborating is actually where that's the best part.
Well, I mean, if I could continue on that, that idea
as well, um, and kind of what I said also,
but like gratitude I think is a very helpful, like,
it's kind of a cheat code being gracious
and being, uh, appreciative of where you're at.
Like, I mean, to con continue into the idea of like,
if there is comparison competition depending on like kind of
where you're looking at things like gratitude
can play a big role of that.
So that's kinda like a practical approach.
I mean, if there's other practical approaches you guys can
think of, because that's always what I want to, uh,
make sure we've touched on at some point.
Like what's some practical ways to readjust thinking?
Like, I mean, it makes sense to be like,
don't be selfish, but like,
You know. Yeah. The,
the practicing, um, a mindset
of gratitude has been proven across multiple fields,
multiple areas to be not only beneficial,
but necessary really to thrive in life.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. Uh, I mean, if you go
through life feeling like you don't have your
gas tank is gonna run out.
If you run through life being grateful for the things
that you do, you're gonna be filled.
And so the truth is, all of us have blessings in our life.
And look, there could be somebody that's listening
to this right now and been like, Hey,
you don't know my life.
And you're right. I don't, I've been
through some really hard times.
And so please don't hear
that in the way in which it's not intended.
Yeah. At a bare minimum, you have a God that loves you,
that created you, that wants to provide peace in the midst
of the storm that you find yourself in.
And so if that's you, I would say I, I know a lot
of churches have jacked some things up.
Do everything you can do to, to find a church, uh, and,
and just express the brokenness that you have.
And if you don't get the love there that you need, then,
then, then try another church.
The church is filled with broken people.
It's not gonna be perfect. But,
but coming to terms with the fact that you have a God that,
that, um, created you,
that knit you together in your mother's wo womb
and had a plan and a purpose
for your life is gonna bring you to a place
of gratitude faster than anything else that you have.
Mm-hmm. Um, and then for the rest of us,
we have gifts in our lives
and to pretend like our to, to look at something else
and to look at another accomplishment
and to look at another piece of gold or another boat
or another guitar or, uh, another parent,
and to say, I want that is to say, I trust
what someone else has received is better for me than
what the road God has placed me on.
Yeah. And even if you were in their shoes,
you did not walk their road.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. And so recognizing you are where you are
for a specific purpose.
Right. You're not going to enjoy your life trying to do
what somebody else has, has done.
And so we have to take the time in our lives to,
to make note, what are we grateful for?
Yeah. Where am I? What is my road?
And that's not to say, so we just sit in gratitude
with where we are and that's it.
No, you can have goals, but if you want to have fuel to go
and accomplish those goals, it's gotta be fueled out of
who you are and what your journey has been.
If you're gonna have the gas to get right to
where you believe God's calling you to go. Yeah.
Yeah. There's something to, uh, I mean, the heart
of gratitude can be a hard place to come to,
especially if you're self focused on everything.
I used to work in, uh, in San Antonio, I worked in homeless,
in the homeless world, and we had, you know, 300 singles
and hundreds of families.
This is 2008 when the housing crash happened,
and it was just bad everywhere.
And one of the things that absolutely really just detested
about the whole thing was we would have, um,
some well off families come in, bring their kids.
So they were trying to expand the perspective the child had
on how good their life was,
and they'd come bring them down to serve or something.
And it just felt like we were trying to get
through gratitude, get to gratitude through either
inferior superiority, maybe mm-hmm.
Of like, your life is better than you think it is.
And I don't think that's the right way to get to there.
Yeah. I do think like a daily being intentional about
looking, assessing my life.
Um, I used to be a part of a, a men's group,
and every day as we started the day it was answered these
three questions, um, what are you hopeful for today?
What are you grateful for today?
And what do you regret from yesterday?
And it just helps set you up for one, to be intentional,
but also to look forward, uh, of
how I can be better at being grateful,
have a better perspective about others,
and own it for myself.
Hmm. Yeah.
Like, if you don't, not one who reads the Bible,
then you can use this as a motivational quote.
You got it. But the, the Bible says to us in Ephesians four,
one, to live a life worthy of the manner of your calling.
Mm-hmm. And you've been called specifically,
we've all been called to different things,
but we've all been called to, you know,
if you've been following along on these episodes
for the last handful we've done, we talked about love,
we talked about self-control, we talked about pride,
like we've been called
to hire standards to be better people.
And so that, that is something
I always have to remind myself.
God's called me to certain things
and I need to ensure that I'm living a life worthy of that.
And in other words, another way to break it down,
comparison does not help with that.
To, to think that I'm not where other people are
and to think that I'm not quite where I need to be
yet if I'm following what I've been called to do, all
that matters is that I am taking the next right step
and doing the next right thing and the next right thing.
And I don't know, that just really speaks to me
and kind of like ties in if that, if that makes sense.
Yeah. But like, it's just, it's just a very powerful idea,
powerful quote, however you wanna look at it.
Yeah. Mm-hmm. It still draw that all together. Yeah.
At the end of the day, it's not an accident of
where you are and how you've been gifted in life, right?
Mm-hmm. And, uh, that doesn't mean
that we're not gonna be in moments of brokenness.
Mm-hmm. Um, the words of Jesus from his mouth,
were blessed are the poor and spirit.
And there is something to, um, recognizing that,
that what you have been given
and where you are is your unique road.
And how do we find gratitude in that knowing
that the blessing might not, the blessing
that we are desiring, the contentment
that we're desiring might not be in the moment,
but there is a promise from God through Christ
that there is blessing involved in that.
Mm-hmm. And that takes work to believe that. Yeah.
And so, um, if we're, if we're gonna move out
of this comparison trap,
we've gotta recognize our road is our road.
Yeah. And our gifting is our gifting.
And, um, we've gotta recognize who we are,
how we were wired, the giftings that God's given to us,
and walk the road that we've been placed on uniquely
to accomplish and to see the things come
to fruition in our lives that God actually has for us.
And, um, at the end of the day,
like there is this deep belief, we have to know
that there is blessing on the other side.
It might not be the blessing that Matt Curtis has mm-hmm.
Or that Bradford Mitchell,
but like, there is blessing on the other side.
Yeah. You need to borrow my boat. What? No, you got a boat.
I have no boat. Hold on a minute.
Kayak Hope and real life family.
Thank you so much for, for tuning into this episode.
Uh, listen, if this content has been valuable for you,
as always, I wanna encourage you like, subscribe, share
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this would be beneficial.
And then if there's anything that we can do for you,
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and we would be more than happy to follow up,
uh, in any way that we can.
As always, Matt Bradford, thank you all
so much for being here with us. Yeah,
Thank you. Alright. Thanks
Matt. No problem.
We will see you all on the next episode.
Until then, let's keep sharing some hope.
Thanks for tuning into this episode
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