What About Them?
The Freedom Of Following Jesus With Your Own Life
“Lord, what about him?” — John 21:21
There is a moment in John 21 that feels painfully human.
Peter has just had one of the most tender conversations of his life with Jesus. He has been restored, loved, and called again.
And almost immediately, he turns and notices John.
“What about him?”
I understand Peter more than I want to admit!
Comparison often begins with a simple turn of the head. We are walking with Jesus, hearing His voice, receiving His love, and then we glance sideways. Someone else’s calling, gifts, fruit, relationships, opportunities, or story catches our attention.
And before long, we are no longer resting in what Jesus has spoken to us.
We are asking, “What about them?”
The Race No One Else Entered
Some competitions are obvious. A race. A match. A scoreboard.
But many of the competitions we live in are silent. No one else even knows they have been entered.
We compare our pace to someone else’s progress. Our fruit to someone else’s visibility. Our obedience to someone else’s outcome.
Even in the family of God, we can quietly wonder why their lives look different from ours.
Jesus’ answer to Peter is both direct and freeing:
“What is that to you? You must follow Me.”
Not harsh.
Merciful.
Because comparison will always pull us away from the grace given for our own journey.
Trusting The One Who Knows The Whole Story
Jesus knew Peter.
Jesus knew John.
He knew the beginning, the road, and the ending of both lives.
And He knows yours.
Your life is not being measured against someone else’s. It is being formed in relationship with the One who loves you, calls you, and knows exactly how His life is meant to be expressed through you.
Hebrews says to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of faith.
Not on someone else’s chapter.
Jesus is not asking you to understand their path.
He is inviting you to trust Him with yours.
Reflection
Where have I been looking sideways instead of listening to Jesus?
Whose journey have I been comparing mine to?
What would it look like to trust Him with my life and theirs?
Prayer