Go deeper with others.

As we continue exploring The GOAT Problem, this week’s focus turns to the anxiety that comparison creates. When our sense of worth becomes tied to how we measure up against others, anxiety takes root. Scripture reveals that comparison doesn’t just distort how we see others—it reshapes how we see ourselves, God, and our own value. How can we avoid the anxiety of comparison?

The idea of being the “GOAT”—the Greatest Of All Time—captures something deep in us. Competition, comparison, and striving to be “better than” others often feel like the best way to success. Yet throughout Scripture the story of “better than” shows how striving can seize our hearts and lead to disappointment, despair, and even destruction. Perhaps, then, there is a better way than “better than.”

At the start of a new year, many of us are looking for something to look forward to – a goal, a sense of hope, a way forward. But instead of doing more, perhaps God may be inviting us to do less. Scripture consistently points to rest not as a reward for exhaustion, but as a rhythm built into the way we were created to live. God leads his people into rest, margin, and renewal – and invites us to reconsider rest as an act of trust in him.