If we keep trying to ‘measure up’ based on our own efforts, we will keep feeling the need to exalt ourselves, which makes us feel the need to put others down (even if unintentionally), and the cycle will continue.
Tag: Christian Mothers
No matter how much good we have done, there is not one of us who has not done evil. Yet, we often show contempt for people when they are caught doing the very things we’ve been guilty of doing!
I think it’s good to have goals and to give God the glory when He blesses us to reach them. Sometimes, though, it seems like everyone around us is succeeding left and right, but we are just not making our mark. We see them scheming, plotting, and backstabbing to get ahead and we rail at the unfairness of it all.
Dissatisfaction often creeps into the way I feel about my life or some aspect of it. I need to exercise more. I need to take another class. I need to set a better example for my kids. There is always something more that I need to do. The issue here is that sometimes I lose sight of my need for God, which is what fuels the dissatisfaction.
Be Humble
Have you ever been in a situation where the tension was so thick you could cut it? I have. Did you humble yourself and make the first move to ease the tension? I didn’t. Were you patient with those around you? I wasn’t. Did you bear with them in love? I didn’t.
Hoping and Praying
We all have things that we are committed to doing every day. We must have that cup of coffee (or tea) in the morning. We must watch that show every evening. We are faithful in those things each day. Are we faithful in prayer?
Keep the Faith
We like to say having faith is hard. At least, I know this is true for me. But when I think about it, I’m believing (having faith) that certain things will happen every day. The truth is that I, like all of you, exercise faith in worldly things all the time.
I have learned that what other people think about me is none of my business. Let us focus on who God says we are. Let us begin to see ourselves as God sees us, fully redeemed by the blood of Jesus. Let us begin to see every person we meet as someone made in the image of God and honor them above ourselves.
Honor Others
Philippians 2:3 says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves.” At every turn we are bombarded with the idea that we must be the best and the first at everything, that we deserve the first and the best of everything. After all, we work hard so why not, right?
I Mean It
“Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:18). The way we live our lives, and the way we keep our word, are our testimonies. We never want to be a stumbling block on anyone’s path. Instead, we should take care to build others up, be there for them, and set an example of what it means to put God first.
