“It’s no secret that most stay-at-home moms or dads
struggle on occasion to feel a sense of appreciation, worth, or significance
amidst the day-to-day grind of raising children. During a season of life when
she was at home full-time with their children, Dr. Tony Campolo’s wife Peggy
would occasionally face the question, “And what is it that you do?” Eventually
she crafted the following response. “I am socializing two Homo Sapiens into the
dominant values of the Judeo-Christian tradition in order that they might be
instruments for the transformation of the social order into the kind of
eschatological utopia that God willed from the beginning of creation.” Then
Peggy would ask the other person, “And what do you do?”*
It’s likely that all of us have experienced feelings
of insignificance. Our culture feeds
this illness. Most of us were raised to
compete in an environment that coached us to compare ourselves to others by
what we do or what we have accomplished. If you are at the top of the food
chain, then it’s no problem. You always compare favorably. But for the other 99.999 percent of us, it’s
not so much fun. There is always someone
else who makes more money, gets more done, gets better grades, has a better
job, sells more product, etc.. And if
our self-worth is tied to this kind of competition, we inevitably end up
feeling inadequate or worthless.
There is a better way.
Instead of our self-worth being wrapped up in what we do, let’s learn to
assess ourselves by who we are. If you
are a Christian, you are a son or daughter of God. That makes you a child of the King! Can you imagine how liberating that would
be? No longer do I have to measure up to
anyone else. God doesn’t love me any
more OR less just because of how I compare to others. We are loved because of WHOSE we are, not
because of WHO we are. Thank you Lord!
God loves you!
Mike
*http://www.patheos.com/blogs/jesuscreed/2018/01/24/free-people-free-people/#F0yzq6
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