We live in a world where the reflex to compare ourselves to others is almost automatic because everyone has become a judge to say what is right or wrong, first or last. Since Adam ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil in the Garden of Eden, this need to judge has settled within us. It has truly altered our ability to judge, and we often allow ourselves to say that if something is not good, then it is bad. If a neighbor works harder, they are considered first and others as last or not as good as the others. This mentality, taught in schools, has caused much damage in our societies because several people think they are better than others and that those who do not have good grades or are not appreciated are failures in life.

This can cause serious problems such as depression, comparison, low self-esteem, lack of self-confidence, division, the syndrome where it is impossible to work together, loneliness. Instead of learning to collaborate and work together, children are faced with this mentality of comparison. Is it not written: “One will chase a thousand, but two will chase ten thousand”?

However, how do you expect them to learn to cooperate to have a greater impact if they are constantly compared to each other? Personally, I think it would be wise not to grade students’ assignments with numbers anymore, but to classify them by category, and to establish a framework to detect each child’s hidden potential, instead of ranking or comparing them. Does this surprise you?

Take for example a palm tree and a mango tree. Although they are both fruit trees, do they not bloom at different times? So why would you want to compare them just because one bears fruit and the other does not? Our God loves diversity and has created each human being with different potentials. Therefore, I think it would be wiser for humans to also learn to appreciate each person according to their potential, rather than wanting everyone to do the same thing, otherwise we would be photocopies of each other…

This text is an excerpt from the book “Drinking Cups to Reign on Earth and in Eternity” written by Apostle Joshua Selman Nimmak, and Kenou Landry Hinnouho.

We invite you to read the following article “Ask the Right Questions“.