She really made me think because what she said was sooooo true! My reply to her is below. I also asked if I could use her status for a blog post some time and she said that I could.
My reply: "I think maybe we want things like we think others have it - and maybe they do and maybe they don't - we can't really know. One of the hardest things to NOT do is compare our lives to others, and I think as females (of all ages) we're into comparing more than males (hair, bodies, makeup, clothes, family, husbands/boyfriends, children, homes, decorations, and on and on). But, you know what we all need to remember? None of us are perfect....none of our lives are perfect....and comparing only keeps our eyes on others instead of on God/Jesus and it will end up making us miserable in the process."
What do you think? Do you believe that we compare our lives to others and try to match what "they" are doing? I really do believe that we do - especially young girls/women. In fact, I believe our culture teaches us, or tries to teach us, to be that way through advertising and entertainment. It's a constant battle to not get caught up in all of that "stuff" and to not get a warped perception of life!
Our perception of life will be much easier and clearer if we keep our eyes on others and on God/Jesus. When we are too focused on ourselves, our lives will be miserable, because we will be focused on our perceived flaws or possibly begin to feel like we're not good enough, not smart enough, not......whatever. We will become selfish in our thoughts. Instead of looking outward and seeing the needs of others, we become consumed with self.
Let's make it a goal to look outward and upward each day! Let's make it a goal to do what we can to help others and to serve others, even if it just by brightening their day with a kind or encouraging word. In doing so, we will be brightening up our own lives. We will be changing the picture in our head from what we think life is supposed to look like to what God/Jesus show us life is supposed to look like!
And, in all of that, we will be "Shining Like Stars"....looking more and more like Jesus.
Likewise also that women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works.
1 Timothy 2:9-10
This is a battle many including myself fight with our children. The world is so wrapped up in culture and the general feeling is that we have to learn to socialize and be a part of the society; a society we always will be strangers to as Christians. It's a never ending battle in my house, especially falling under pressure from relatives and friends as a homeschooling family.
ReplyDeleteAmen! Sorry you have the home school battle. I admire your family for being a home-schooled family! If we were in a larger place where there was a group together and sports could have been played, we would have chosen the same, for sure. It's a wonderful thing for children and parents!
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