Compared to her...: How to experience true contentment

We all need help to take our eyes off the gifts we do or don’t have, so that we can turn our gaze to the Gift-giver Himself. This book is a helpful guide for that process—it’s compassionate, honest, and truthful.

Sophie’s honesty made me swallow hard, not because of  what it told me about herself but what it revealed in me. Looking up and looking down at others is something we all do yet for many of us it’s so habitual we hardly notice we’re doing it. Unfortunately the consequences are far more evident. This book takes a good hard look at how we compare ourselves to others and the reasons why we do it. It’s a problem we just can not afford to ignore! Sophie offers hope by presenting the God given remedy and convincing us that rather than being doomed to dissatisfaction, contentment is a realistic option.

We all know we do it and we think we know why. Sophie de Witt exposes the malignancy of the disease through a thorough, Biblical analysis of the problem, pointing out the paucity of standard solutions. If you ever thought that recollecting that ‘there are so many others worse off than yourself’ is any kind of a cure for self-pity, then read this book. It is a real page-turner – I could not wait to read about the treatment,  and was intrigued and encouraged to discover that there is such a thing as healthy comparison. A book to read, and read again.

Sophie de Witt has written a book that sounds a crucial warning to Christians buffeted and tossed in a culture of overwhelming comparison.  It comes out of years of personal experience and theological reflection and is a real gift to the church.

Sophie has done a good job of exposing an all-too-common problem that we all face (not just women!). Full of biblical wisdom and realism, this book will be a great help to many people.

I started to read this book assuming that it was written for other women - that while others may struggle with CCS - or Compulsive Comparison Syndrome to give it its full title - I was not like them.  Yet within a few pages I had started to recognise myself from the symptoms Sophie described and was starting to squirm.  By the end I’d come to the firm conclusion that this is a book that every Christian woman should read.  It’s full of clear insights into the kind of sins that we so easily overlook, biblical wisdom and gospel hope.  I trust that the Lord will use it in the lives of all who read it.

This book is simple but profound - and profoundly helpful. The common problem of comparison, with all its poisonous results, is exposed and laid bare to be seen for what it is. In its place comes biblical truth giving life and health and wholeness.

Accessible, jargon-free and dealing with a struggle that women are very prone to, this is a really helpful book for encouraging women to think about how they compare themselves to others, as well as finding the way out of such a comparison-driven life.

Sophie de Witt draws our attention to ‘Compulsive Comparison Syndrome’ (a need for us to compare ourselves with others) and her examples are funny, sad and to the point, helping everyone to identify one or other of the symptoms of the condition. Then she asks why we compare ourselves to others, or why we look down on those who we perceive to be worse than we are. She then takes us to God’s word and shows us how to deal with this “Syndrome” and turn our attention on to Christ, who is the only one who can make us content. A must “read” for all women of all ages.

In this helpful and thought-provoking book, Sophie gives us wonderful pastoral insights about a complex and challenging subject—the human heart. With theological soundness, clarity and simplicity, Sophie helps us see the distortive and destructive power of worldly comparison, and points us to Christ. In an age where we so often become the source of our own pain, heartache and discouragement, this book is a must read in helping us to unleash ourselves from ourselves.

In this engaging and refreshingly honest book, Sophie de Witt gives women hope. She shows how we can be freed from the trap of comparing ourselves to others, and how we can find satisfaction, security, and significance, in the life we actually have.

This moving and compassionate book analyses some of our deepest feelings from the point of view of God’s Word.  It’s  a confronting read in some places as Sophie describes the many areas in our lives where we fail to let God be God. But it points us with great effect to the true contentment we can have in Christ Jesus. I warmly commend it.

Do you yearn for contentment? Do you know anyone who does? (We’ve now covered everyone.) Then please read this book. It diagnoses our condition with insight and humour, and offers the only true cure with clear and practical explanation. Read it, then give it away. We all need it.

If you’re anything like me, you’d love to be free from the discontent, insecurity, envy and pride that come from comparing yourself to others. Sophie de Witt writes like a trusted physician, clearly identifying the symptoms and cause of Compulsive Comparison Syndrome and offering treatment for this illness of the heart. Her delightful little book can be read in one sitting, but will go on working its cure for a lifetime.