Is It Normal to Feel "Inferior"?

[Navigator]

Alright this is something that's been bothering me, more so this year.

I joined a Christian youth group plus a small group Bible study through the youth group this year. The people from both the large group and my small group have been awesome; they are seriously some cool people and I'm glad that I can grow in Christ with them.

All this being said, I'm feeling inferior. I've gone to church my whole life, yet I still feel like one of the "weaker" Christians in the group. I've always considered myself to be good in terms of accepting and loving others, and practicing forgiveness. Not much bothers me or REALLY stresses me out, and I attribute that to my faith. But in terms of overall knowledge, I feel mine is insufficient. I mentioned that I'm in the process of reading the Bible, but as of RIGHT NOW I feel weak.

The Bible is our direct link to God; it's His Word, and I feel so distant from it. Everyone in my youth group seems to have so much more knowledge of the Bible than me, and this is only more exposed in my small Bible study.

Is it wrong to compare ones spiritual journey to others? Am I okay in thinking this way? I can see where this could be a hint at jealousy, but I honestly don't feel jealous necessarily...I'm just noticing that others around me seem to have a better knowledge of the Scriptures than me.

 

[handy]

As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

It could be that you are in the process of being "sharpened" by the others...you're not inferior, not at all. We're all in the same boat, sinners saved by grace. But, no matter where one is at in their walk, we have areas that need to be sharpened and it could very well be that God has you with this group because they are addressing a need or weakness within you. Sounds like you are finding that you need to apply yourself to more biblical study and that's not a bad thing.

 

[Classik]

You are not inferior!! We all have testified the same - and have struggled to know HIM more and grow in HIM.
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Call it jealousy - I call it positive jealousy.

 

[WIP]

Alright this is something that's been bothering me, more so this year.

I joined a Christian youth group plus a small group Bible study through the youth group this year. The people from both the large group and my small group have been awesome; they are seriously some cool people and I'm glad that I can grow in Christ with them.

All this being said, I'm feeling inferior. I've gone to church my whole life, yet I still feel like one of the "weaker" Christians in the group. I've always considered myself to be good in terms of accepting and loving others, and practicing forgiveness. Not much bothers me or REALLY stresses me out, and I attribute that to my faith. But in terms of overall knowledge, I feel mine is insufficient. I mentioned that I'm in the process of reading the Bible, but as of RIGHT NOW I feel weak.

The Bible is our direct link to God; it's His Word, and I feel so distant from it. Everyone in my youth group seems to have so much more knowledge of the Bible than me, and this is only more exposed in my small Bible study.

Is it wrong to compare ones spiritual journey to others? Am I okay in thinking this way? I can see where this could be a hint at jealousy, but I honestly don't feel jealous necessarily...I'm just noticing that others around me seem to have a better knowledge of the Scriptures than me.

Welcome to my world! I too often feel unlearned and I am 52. My online name, WIP, has a meaning. It is an acronym for Work In Progress. The Lord is still working on me and I expect it's going to take quite some time before he's done with me. But that's okay. He'll finish me in His time.

 

[for_his_glory]

From the first day you accepted Jesus as your personal Savior you gained knowledge. We can attract more people to Christ through our own personal testimony then we can by cramming scripture down their throats that we might not understand. Just as faith comes by hearing and hearing so does our knowledge when we allow the Holy Spirit reveal those hidden mysteries of the word of God to us. We will never learn everything of Gods word and even at 57 being in the word for over 40 years I learn something new in his word everyday as I study. The more I study the same thing the more it sticks in my head, plus I make a lot of notes as I read. Never feel inferior as all of us are on different levels of learning.