God is Generous to You
“But he answered one of them, ‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’” - Matthew 20:13-15
Author John Powell once wrote in his book Happiness is an Inside Job, “Comparison is the death of true self-contentment.” Whether we’re scrolling through Instagram or looking around at what our friends have, it’s so incredibly easy to get caught up in the trap of comparison. The grass might always look greener on someone else’s yard, but lately, I’ve been reminded over and over again that I can find contentment in the “grass” God has given me.
A few weeks ago, our pastor was teaching on Matthew 20 and the Parable of the Workers. If you don’t know the story, Jesus tells of a landowner who went out in the morning and hired a group of people to work. He agreed to pay them a denarius (or a day’s wage) for working for the day. Then he went out again at noon, and three, and five and did the same thing. When the day was over and everyone was lined up to get paid, those who worked the longest say that the people who started working at the end of the day also got a denarius, they became angry because they expected to receive more. Yet the landowner’s response is one that sticks with me. He says:
“‘I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn’t you agree to work for a denarius? Take your pay and go. I want to give the one who was hired last the same as I gave you. Don’t I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?’” (v. 13-15)
Are we ever envious of God’s generosity to others? When I am trapped in the cycle of comparison, you bet I am! It’s so easy for me to think Wow God, so and so gets that house or that vacation or that lifestyle.
But the truth is that God HAS been generous to me. My life is filled with good things, and even more than the tangible blessings of our home or my family and friends and things, God has been the most generous by sending His son Jesus to die on the cross for my sins! Every bad and sinful part of me has already been redeemed and washed clean. I have a relationship with God because He loved me enough to rescue me.
And when I am able to see that perspective, I’m better able to celebrate God’s generosity in my life and in other people’s. I can celebrate the good God is blessing them with while being secure in my own circumstances.
The next time you find yourself stuck in the trap of comparison, stop and remember. Remember how the Lord has loved you and redeemed you, and trust that He is taking care of you just as much as He’s taking care of someone else, even if it looks different than you would expect.