From the moment a baby is born to the time he dies, he is constantly seeking to find out who he is and how much he is worth.

He explores his environment with his different senses: hands, feet, eyes, ears, nose and mouth. Later he uses other tools and instruments to help him in his exploration. He invents bicycles, cars and other vehicles to explore the land. Canoes, boats, ships, submarines and hovercrafts to roam the sea. Hot air balloons, airplanes, helicopters, rockets, satellites, space ships and space stations to explore space.

Man has the urge to climb the next hill and reach the next mountain. He has to cross the next river and traverse the next canyon and ravine. He has to cross the ocean and bore through the earth. He has to go to the moon and beyond.

Man forever wants to pierce the next frontier. From macroscopic to microscopic, from atomic to subatomic, from sub-sonic to supersonic. Man is forever looking outward and inward, upward and downward.

In his constant search for the unknown, man is seeking to find out who he is and what his worth is. As part of his search for identity and worth, man compares himself with others.

From the time we were born, before we knew how to compare with others, our parents already did the comparing for us. “Your baby is 19 inches. Oh, mine is 22 inches.” Does yours sleep through the night?” “When did yours have her front teeth?”

When we were at school, we competed and compared with our fellow students athletically, socially and academically. We envied those who were better off than we were and we looked down upon those who did not do as well as we did. We fluctuated between conformity and being unique.

When we started to work, we were even more conscious of the constant comparison that was going on. People pigeon-holed us by the jobs we had to the neighborhoods we live in, from the cars we drove to where we spent our vacations, from where we shopped to where we dined. Not to mention where we sent our children to college.

From morning till evening, from January to December and from before we were born to after we die, we are constantly comparing ourselves with others and we are constantly being compared by others.

Why do we compare? Why do we need to forever explore and search and research? The bottom line is insecurity and limitation. We are not sure of ourselves. We do not know what is happening on the other side of the mountain. We don’t know what is there at the turn of the next corner. We don’t know what lies beyond the grave.

What have all these comparisons done to us? Well, it often sends us on an emotional roller coaster: feeling superior at one moment and inferior at another; feeling safe at one place and scared at another.

The God who made us knows our needs of security and identity. He does not only know our needs, but He also does something about them. In fact, He gives His very life to secure our security.

As Easter is coming around the corner, I thank God for what He has done. He has established my worth by Hi s willingness to die for me. I no longer need to beat the guy next to me to establish my worth. My worth is already established and my eternal destiny is secured.

Thank God, I am alive. Not just for now, but for all eternity.