Have you ever had one of those relatives whose very name made you cringe? Mine was a particular aunt. She always came to visit for a week or so without her family, but boy did I know all about my cousin Kathy even though I had never seen her in person.
Auntie dearest always sang Kathy’s praises
Ad nauseam, and they went something like this:
“Kathy is prettier than you! Kathy is smarter than you! Kathy is the closest thing to an angel this side of heaven.”
Then one day it happened; I finally got to see Kathy.
Laughing out loud would have been rude so I restrained myself and laughed silently. This was Kathy? This was the princess whose beauty could hardly be surpassed? Well, I guess love really is blind.
Kathy wasn’t overly intelligent either. Nor was she more creative, better at cooking, nor anything else I had ever heard about her. In fact, the only attribute in which Kathy seemed to be superior was ego.
After all those years of resenting my “perfect” cousin, I found myself feeling rather sorry for her. She might even have been likeable if she were not so self-centered. To her detriment, she had been conditioned to believe that the world revolved around her and should bow down to her. If Kathy had any natural beauty, I couldn’t see it through her ugly self-exalting (and mother-exalting) vanity.
A great many years have passed since I stepped out of Kathy’s shadow into the light of reality, but I have encountered others very much like her and her mother along the way. I pay them no heed and I certainly don’t allow myself to feel inferior to them no matter how superior they present themselves.
You and I need never compare ourselves to others because our heavenly Father doesn’t. There is no question we are all terribly flawed and markedly lacking, but we are children of the King (of Kings) and as such will one day be perfected.
Furthermore, each of us is special and unique. We are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light
(I Peter 2:9).
Though we are never to be puffed up in pride because of our heavenly status, we can certainly walk confidently in it. After all, our heavenly Father doesn’t care how brilliant our minds are. He cares only that we love him with our whole heart, soul and mind. And, He is not concerned about our physical appearance. When he looks at us sees only our heart (I Samuel 16:7). God is not even concerned about our ability –He is only interested in our AVAILability.
Satan, on the other hand, forever lost his heavenly status because of his puffed-up, self-exalted pride. No wonder he takes his fierce wrath out on God’s children. This deceiver also has a song that he sings Ad nauseam. Its lyrics go something like this:
“You’re not good enough. You’re not spiritual enough. God can’t use you! Did God really say that?”
If that weren’t enough, Satan wants us to live in the shadow of his child, whose name is condemnation. But the reality is that there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit (Romans 8:1).
We might have to tolerate some unbearable relatives now and then, but we never have to tolerate the lies of the accuser of the brethren. And that’s the truth!
postscript: Satan is the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10) and he is the father of all lies. (John 8:44) In fact, Satan is not really his name, it is his title. In the original Hebrew he is called hasatan, which means the (ha) deceiver (satan).
~ p.s.s. Kathy is not my cousin’s real name. Furthermore, these events took place more than thirty years ago while we were still quite young. We haven’t seen each other since, but I assume that “Kathy” is now a very down-to-earth person and I hope to see her again some day.
Rays of Light 
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