I measure myself against everyone: their looks, their money, their marriages, their careers. I always come up short. How do I stop?

“But as for me, my feet were almost gone; my steps had well nigh slipped. For I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.”

Asaph, a temple worship leader, admits that he very nearly lost his footing altogether, and the cause was watching people who cared nothing for God apparently doing better than he was. This is unusually honest writing from a religious professional. The psalm does not resolve until he goes into the sanctuary and sees the whole picture, which suggests comparison is broken by perspective rather than by willpower.

“For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”

Paul is dealing with rivals in Corinth who measured themselves by their own standards and inside their own circle. His verdict on the practice is simply that it is not wise: they measure themselves by themselves and understand nothing. The insight underneath it is that comparison feels like information but is not. It cannot tell you your worth, because the scale is arbitrary and the sample is chosen.