The Trap of Comparison | The Gospels | Luke 15:11–32

Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study

Ten Minute Bible Talks

Mental Health, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Health & Fitness, Christianity

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 5 May 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Why do we constantly compare ourselves to others? How can comparison lead us either to shame or pride? And what does this story reveal about where we actually belong? In today’s episode, Tanya shares how Luke 15:11–32 shows that whether we identify with the prodigal son or the older brother, comparison keeps us from belonging and fully experiencing the Father’s love. Read the Bible with us in 2026! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: Luke 15:11–32

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work.
0:10.9	I'm Tanya Wilmuth.
0:13.0	Today, I want you to sit with a question, dig a little deep, if you will, and the question is, why do you compare yourself to other people? Notice I didn't ask, do you?
0:25.2	I said, why do you compare yourself to other people? We do it all the time. We maybe we scroll through
0:32.5	someone's highlight reel and see this beautiful life that they're living, this vacation they're having, this career
0:38.7	that's going so well and we feel small in comparison. Or we could look at a person who's making
0:45.9	a mess of their life and kind of talk about what a crazy time they're having and feel a little
0:52.3	bit better about ourselves. Comparison is a human response
0:57.4	to insert ourselves into the stories that we hear and the stories that we tell, but in a way of
1:04.6	making ourselves either feel better or worse. It's like we're asking who in this story
1:09.9	represents me and my attitudes and beliefs,
1:12.3	and how do I line up with those people? Now, today, we're going to look at a story Jesus told,
1:19.6	and this is a story you may have heard before about the prodigal son, but we're going to look at
1:24.7	this story and ask, why do we compare ourselves to others?
1:29.9	So we're looking at it through the lens of comparison and how that affects our relationship with God.
1:37.2	Okay, so the story is from Luke chapter 15.
1:40.0	And when we hear the story that Jesus told in Luke 15 of the prodigal son, there are three different characters involved.
1:48.1	We have the wayward son or the prodigal.
1:51.8	We have the loving father who's waiting for him to return.
1:55.4	And we have the brother that stayed at home to work and hold down the fort.
2:00.3	Jesus tells us about the prodigal son.
2:03.6	This is the younger son. This is the son who goes to his father and ask for his inheritance early.
	...

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