Me and Paula (don't compare!)

I have a new claim to fame – last Sunday I took part in the same sporting event as Paula Radcliffe! We were both participants in the Jane Tomlinson Run for All Leeds 10K. It genuinely was a run (or walk) for all, with people of all ages, backgrounds, abilities, shapes and sizes taking part. For me, it was something of a family affair, with my daughter Steph, her fiancé Matt, my sister Mary, my niece Helen and another niece's husband, Jonathan, all taking part.

For most people involved, the event was not a race; it was an opportunity to have fun and raise money for charity. Steph, Matt and I were raising money for the brilliant charity Malaria No More UK, and thanks to the generosity of many people we are well on our way to reaching our £1000 target, which will help save previous lives.

Although I say it was not a race, and in a sense we were not competing with each other, there was, nevertheless, the tendency to compare oneself with other runners, especially those who were going at a faster rate. There were a few occasions where a runner whose obvious advanced age or rather large size made it quite a shock when they sailed past me! When I approached that last couple of kilometres there was a rather large lady who overtook me, and my natural competitive streak led me to increase my pace so as to get to the finishing line ahead of her!

Yet the truth is that when, after the run was completed, I queued up for my t-shirt and goody bag, I was not asked how fast I had run or how many other people I had beaten. It was sufficient that I had completed the course. Yes, Paula Radcliffe completed the course far quicker than I did, (despite being 7 months pregnant!) But that didn't matter; I had completed the course, and accomplished my aim.

In the Christian life there is a tendency to compare ourselves with others. We can be tempted to envy those who seem better than we are at various things: witnessing, preaching, caring, or whatever. Yet God never wants us to compare ourselves with other people. We are unique individuals, and God has given us gifts and abilities which are different from those of other people. We ought to rejoice in who we are, and in the wonderful fact that God has called us to the race of the Christian life, and promised that he will give us strength to keep going to the end.

In Paul's first letter to Timothy he uses the image of an athlete when he writes, 'I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgement he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.' If we each faithfully run the race of the Christian life to the end, we have waiting for us something far more exciting than a goody bag and a t-shirt!