Internet Gotcha Down?

I think we all have a love/hate relationship with the internet. Especially for social sites like Pinterest and blogs. I can’t believe how much I have learned about every day life. My whole house is full of ideas that have come from this crazy little box in front of me.

But so many times (and I know I’m not alone here), I’ve turned away from gazing at someone’s publicly displayed life, turned to look at the reality of my own; and found the dissimilarity to be overwhelmingly depressing.

What is wrong with me? Why can’t I get it together? My poor kids, having to grow up with a mom like me! But if I’m brutally honest, my emotions quickly swing to my own defense. Well, they must not have it as hard as I do. My kids don’t sleep through the night. We’re barely scraping by financially. My son has such and such. And blah-de-blah. And I’m a woman, so I swing back again. Wow. You’re so ungrateful. You have all the advantages in the world. Abundant blessings, and you’re completely wasting it. You suck. 

It’s yucky. It’s robbing me of joy. I’m tired of it. Should I ban the computer from my home? (There’d be a mutiny with me leading the charge.) Should I just try harder to be a better person? (Yeah… cuz that worked last time.)

What’s the solution?

Where can I go, but to the foot of the cross. Why do I ever leave? At the cross, I can be brutally honest about my shortcomings. At the cross, I find my mistakes are more than that; they’re the product of a heart in rebellion. And at the cross, hallelujah, I find that the very God that I have affronted with my sin has ALREADY paid the ultimate price in my place. It’s done. I brought nothing and came away with everything. I didn’t do a thing. This is grace.

So back to those dishes, and whining children. Back to those seemingly perfect people that make us feel so condemned. Back to those we fain interested in, just so we can judge them and feel better about ourselves. What to do with all those thoughts of comparison?

Preach the cross to yourself. If going through a severe depression has taught me anything, it is that if I’m passive in my thought life, the door of my mind is open to lies. Give yourself a talkin’ to!

“Yup, you’re right. You’re not good enough. No one is. Stop judging. In fact, you’re even worse off than you could ever believe. But Jesus died for you. Dude, listen to me. This is not a Sunday school lesson. JESUS DIED FOR YOU! His death has covered it all. You are not able to do anything but He’s able to do everything. You are forgiven. And by his Spirit, you are enabled.”
We have GOT to stop taking grace and the gospel out of our continued walk with Christ. We’re hopeless to save ourselves when we first come to Him and we’re hopeless to change ourselves even today. Stop striving for perfection without Him. It’s robbing Him of the glory He wants to display in your life!

Read 2 Corinthians 12:8-10 with fresh eyes.
8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I’m sharing all this because I desperately want this blog to be a place that champions women, not compares. I don’t know exactly how to prevent that but here’s my idea. I want to include at the end of every post some kind of personal boasting in weakness. I find it laughable that someone would be intimated by me or my ridiculous “accomplishments”, but it might happen. I’m gonna include some kind of humbling tidbit. I’m not sure how this will develop. But I KNOW it will be good for me, and I hope it will keep all our focus’ on the cross. I’m gonna call it “Boasting in Weakness” since I’m not creative enough to come up with anything else.

If all this seems like gibberish, PLEASE message me! I’d love to talk more about what Christ has done for you and for me.