MY BLOG POSTS

We might not all say it, but we ALL feel, at one time or another, some of us more often than others, that we are not good enough.

We look at others and see so many who are smarter, prettier, richer. We see girls who seem to have it all together and we get discouraged because we are SO not together.

Just about everyone struggles with these feelings. Seriously. I can’t tell you how many girls I’ve talked to who are beautiful, stunning, yet look at themselves in the mirror and think they are the ugliest girl on the planet. Or girls who seem to breeze through even the toughest classes, but are wracked with worry every night before a big test. Sometimes the girls who seem to know everyone feel incredibly lonely and unloved.

Becoming a supermodel or a famous singer or a movie star doesn’t change it, either. Believe it or not, those folks have even more pressure than we do. Many of them struggle with insecurity to a degree that would shock most of us “normal folks.”

So here’s the deal: The problem isn’t that you’re not good enough. The problem is that you are believing a lie. That lie comes straight from the Father of Lies himself, and the way we battle with him is by using Truth – the Word of God.  Replace those lies with Truth every time they come into your mind. Every time.

Here are a few verses of Truth to start with. Memorize them. Write them on a post-it and stick it on your bathroom mirror, your bedroom wall. Fill your mind with  ”whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Phil. 4:8 Fill your mind so full of Truth that there is no room left for the lies.

Ps. 139:13-14 “For you created my inmost being;  you knit me together   in my mother’s womb. I praise you  because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful,  I know that full well.”

I John 3:1a “See what great love  the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”

Romans 8:17 “Now if we are children, then we are heirs —heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings   in order that we may also share in his glory.”

I am a people pleaser. I desperately want to be liked. Over the years, I have compromised in ways I am ashamed of simply to avoid conflict. I have kept my mouth shut when I should have spoken, and I have spoken when I should have stayed silent, all in an effort to make those around me like me.

Worse, though, than any of that, is that my desire to please people can often take precedence over my desire to please God. Some of the those compromises I talked about? They were made when I refused to really live out parts of the Bible that might make others not like me. Parts that make people uncomfortable. But as I study God’s word, I see over and over again that believers were very often hated. Most of the prophets of the Old Testament were giving incredibly unpopular messages. The disciples were mistreated. Jesus, himself, told his followers that they should expect persecution – expect to be hated.

I don’t like that. I don’t like when people dislike me, disagree with me, think I’m terrible, narrow-minded, wrong.

But God reminds me through Paul’s words in Galatians, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

I have to choose – I can be a people pleaser OR a God pleaser.

I know the right choice. And I also know when I focus on being a God pleaser I am far more at peace. I can let go of my worries about what others think about me, what others say about me, what others write about me. I can take comfort in the fact that my Creator, my Savior loves me. He is with me, guiding and directing and teaching me. In fact, if I am totally honest, I draw closest to him during those times when I am disliked by others. I am driven to God in my weakness.

I don’t know if I will ever completely be free from my people-pleasing tendencies. But I can work daily to choose Christ over people, to let go of my selfishness (because, ultimately, that is the root of my people-pleasing attitude), to be completely obedient to the One who tells me He has plans for me, good for me, works for me to accomplish for Him.

I know people who spend entire weekends making holiday goodies. And they think it’s fun.

I know people who get cookbooks for Christmas. And like it.

I know people who have people over for dinner just to try a new recipe.

I am not one of those people.

Don’t get me wrong. I like eating holiday goodies. In fact, I’ll eat just about anything. Except broccoli. Or green beans.

But cooking?

No, thanks. It’s a necessary evil. Something forced on me. Like root canals and taxes.

I do it, but it isn’t pretty. And it isn’t fun. And it often results in the smoke alarm going off.

(the only difference between me and this lady is that I don’t have blonde hair…or an apron)

Take home lesson: If you don’t like cooking, write a blog. Your family will get tired of waiting on dinner and go out for Chik-Fil-A instead.

Lately, I have been spending a lot of time in the future. No, I don’t have access to wormhole that allows me to bust through the space-time continuum…although that would be AWESOME! But I have been writing about the future. So my mind is there. I sit around and daydream what it might be like. I talk to other people about it. It’s actually quite fun.

But I was thinking last night, as I left the future to return to 2013, that not all “future living” is good.

For example, I teach high schoolers. I love my students. But I always have a few who spend their entire senior (and sometimes junior) years completely focused on “getting out.” Some just hate high school and expend all their energy letting everyone around them know how much they hate it and how great life will be once they’re in college. Others, though, are just focused on getting into college – getting good scores on their SATs, passing their AP exams, getting accepted into the “right” school, finding scholarships. All good things. But even good things, when they consume our mind, can be bad. Either scenario keeps students locked in the future instead of enjoying the present.

This year’s senior class, though, is enjoying their final year of high school. I am watching them soak in the experiences, the fun, the friendships. I have watched them step up in leadership. Ours is a Christian school, and the senior class knows it sets the tone spiritually for the rest of the school. And they do. They reach out to the younger students, they encourage them. They lead by example. I am so proud of these kids. Sure, they are ready for high school to be over. Sure, they are stressed about college. But most of them choose not to live in either of those futures. They choose to focus on today.

Please don’t hear me saying “YOLO” (You Only Live Once), encouraging you to engage in random acts of stupidity because life is short. What I am saying is that we need to take each day as a gift from God. We need to remember we aren’t promised tomorrow. We need to keep in mind that God has plans for us TODAY. He has people for us to love TODAY, things He wants us to do TODAY. And if we only think about what we might do tomorrow, we’ll miss out on all the amazing gifts God has for us right now: we’ll miss out on opportunities to share, to encourage, to serve, to know Christ better and to be made more like Him.

So plan for the future. Read books about the future (insert shameless plug for Anomaly). But don’t get stuck there. Be present in the present. Make a difference today.