Ugly Comparisons and Discontent

Sometimes stay-at-home women start to get down on themselves. I guess this would also be true of career women. Maybe it's more accurate to say that all women tend to get down on themselves at times. We compare ourselves to others and begin to feel less valuable. Comparing ourselves to others is so destructive to our lives. It leads to discontent.

I know that when I compare myself to other women, I will always either think too highly of myself or too lowly. This is madness! If I think too lowly of myself I am forgetting who I am in God's eyes. I am forgetting that he has called me to be his child. If I think too highly of myself, I am forgetting the holiness of God! I have to stop comparing myself to others just so I can feel good about myself. I can always find someone who I think is worse than me. I am pretty sure this is not what God wants for me to do.

The only person I need to compare myself to is Jesus Christ. And boy, oh boy, do I not measure up! This is the only way to keep my attitude in perspective. When I think of how obedient I am to God, I must then consider how obedient Jesus was to the Father. I fail tremendously in my actions and even more importantly in the motivation behind my actions. At times, I find myself trying to manipulate God. How desperately wicked my heart is!

"Create in my a clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within me."
(Psalm 51:10)
I know I need a new heart. Daily I seek the Lord with this prayer. I am so thankful that God has mercy on me. He has made me a new creation. The things that used to not bother me about myself (self-centeredness, manipulative tendencies, etc) now grate away at me. I am not better than anyone else. I am just being showered with his new mercies every morning. He is daily making me a new creation and creating in me a clean heart. Hallelujah!