Device 10 - Satan will encourage us to compare ourselves and our lives with those who are reported to be more evil than we are. Look no further than the Pharisee who compared himself to the tax-collector (Luke 18:11). Satan will encourage you to think that your imperfections and weaknesses are not as grievous as others so you are not as great a sinner as they are.
First Remedy - Remember that there is no clearer proof that a man is a hypocrite than to see the speck in another's eye while missing the plank in his own. (Matt. 7:3-4). Don't turn a magnifying glass on others without turning it first to yourself!
Second Remedy - Spend more time comparing your attitudes and actions with the perfect standard of God's word, by which you will be judged, than in comparing yourself to others. What monsters men would appear to be if they would compare themselves with a righteous rule and not with sinful men; they would appear as black as hell itself!
Third Remedy - Remember that though your sins may not seem as great as others, without repentance and pardoning mercy you will be just as guilty and equally damned as others though their punishments may not be as severe. God will suit men's punishments to their sins; the greatest sins will receive the greatest punishments. But what comfort will that be if you are shut out forever from the glorious presence of Christ and every good thing for eternity. If the Ephesian elders wept because they wouldn't see Paul's face again (Acts 20:37), how much worse will it be to be eternally shut out from the presence of God. Not only to be shut out of the presence of heaven but to be shut up with demons and evil men for eternity.
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