Transformed on Tuesdays - Envy

Do you ever compare yourself to others and end up falling short? Me, too. Thankfully, the Christian life is NOT a competitive sport.

I’ll never forget sitting in a room of young mothers eager to listen and learn from one who had gone before. The room was expectant and still.

Beautifully dressed, every hair in place, the speaker floated to platform prepared to exhort and encourage these women during this insanely busy phase of their lives.

As a mother of adult children, that day’s presenter had indeed parented well and the audience was on the edge of their seats. The topic…

“Having Daily Devotions with God.”

A splash of humor and old family tale launched the talk, and I settled in to enjoy the ride. But strangely, only a few minutes into the speech, the eager smiles began to droop and the note-scribbling hands were stilled.

The speaker didn’t notice. She blindly continued on.

Soon shoulders slumped, eyes looked down, and the scent of discouragement permeated the room. Things were not going well.

Why? The presenter had forgotten.

She had forgotten what it was like to have 3 preschoolers at home and a baby who kept you up all night. She didn’t recall those days of whining voices, runny noses, and trips to the bathroom that were a group event. Instead, she assumed…

She assumed that everyone else should be just like her, and unfortunately everyone else there that day did as well.

The long lingering mornings of uninterrupted Bible reading and prayer may have been the speaker’s calling from God but it wasn’t theirs. The soaking in His presence while the world raced by was God’s plan for her but not for them. The coiffed hair, designer jeans, and elegantly draped silk scarf may have been her garb of the day but we all knew that a burp cloth and diaper bag would somehow ruin the look.

That precious speaker and those beautiful moms were called to very different things, and they all forgot.

The slumped shoulders, drooping eyes, and shuffling feet all reminded me comparison kills. Comparing ourselves to others can lead to guilt, pride, pressure, discouragement, inauthenticity, and more. The Christian life was never meant to be lived that way.

… the life of the Spirit…
means we will not compare ourselves with each other
as if one of us were better and another worse…
Each of us is an original.
Galatians 5:25

You are an original. Your personality is unique, your calling is unmatched, and your circumstances are yours alone. No one in the world can replace the remarkable you, and you are not meant to be exactly like them.

True joy and freedom only come when you are the best that God created YOU to be.

Need help? Last month on Living in Love with Jesus we learned the beauty of Accepting Who God Created You to Be. Be sure to check it out.

And if you want to have some fun, take this free True Colors (www.truecolorscareer.com) quiz to learn more about the unique YOU that God designed for you to be.

On a Personal Note:

This month I have the privilege of joining Jory Fisher and Beth Scanzani on their radio show, Heart & Soul. There I will be discussing the “Change Your Thinking. Change Your Life” and “Uniquely You: Discover Your Life Purpose,” ecourses (and soon to be books) designed to help women be all that God created them to be. The show will air live on July 28th at 12:00 pm Eastern Time. I hope to meet you there.