2 Corinthians 10:4
We all have weaknesses in our lives. I don't know if you all know this, but I am a stress eater. I may have mentioned it a few times since the blog has been up and running. I am also not the most organized person you'll ever meet. (This I'm working on for the sake of my students.)
Everyone has a weakness. Maybe you are a perfectionist. Perhaps you are a worrier. Do you obsess over things beyond your control? As I said yesterday...in our marriage, where my strengths are, Coach is weak. It doesn't mean I can't work toward improving those weaknesses though. In this life, we have only a short time here to live. Truly live. We can focus on the negative or our weaknesses...or we can make changes in our lives to better who we are.
The problem comes from the strongholds in our lives. In reading my devotional today, the Devil places strongholds in our lives to try to prevent us from being who God wants us to be. What is encouraging to me is that God gives us the tools to become stronger in those areas if we are willing. He helps us in ways to be better. Not better than others...just to be our personal best.
I was reading something in some information that was given to me by my cooperating teacher yesterday. It is called Seven Simple Secrets, by Annette Breaux and Todd Whitaker. Basically it is a 'How To' guide in surviving your first year of teaching. (I'll need that...) In this information there was a line that really caught my eye. It said this.:
How to be YOUR best, not THE best.
Isn't that encouraging? We are to be the best WE can be...not the best out of everyone. In the world of blogging, technology, and Pinterest...I've caught myself feeling like a failure more than once. I look through the wonderful ideas of others and think...why can't I be more like that? I can't think of a single thing I would put on Pinterest that people would oooh and ahhhhh over. I worried before Christmas break because I ruined Middle's Christmas party cookies. I had to go to Walmart and purchase cupcakes for him to take instead. I put the picture on Facebook saying something about not being "that Mom" again this year. My desire sometimes is to be so much more than I am. When in reality...God says I'm enough. It's okay that I can't make a baked good to save my life. Someday, when I have more time to set aside for things like that, I'm sure I'll perfect that. It's okay that I am not a master crafter. The boys don't seem to mind and it isn't something I love to do anyway. It's okay that my pictures are blurry. My sisters is one of the very best photographers I know. It's okay that we aren't good at everything. It's okay to just be who we are.
We don't have to be the best. We just have to be our best.
How encouraging.
Sometimes we think we have to be a certain way to be successful in this life. God says...that's not true. We can be anything we want to be if we put our minds to it. We aren't to compare ourselves to the ones next to us. We are to challenge ourselves to be the best we can be. There is a big difference between those two sentences.
My biggest stronghold would be comparing myself to others. God clearly says I don't have to do that anymore. The devil tries to hang on, but God is stronger. When you begin to feel those strongholds taking over your life, remember...we aren't fighting this war with the devil alone. God has weapons beyond what we could come up with. And in the wise words of Little's preschool teacher...
Be your best and give the rest to God who loves you.
Have a blessed day!
Referee of 3
1 comment:
So true amy, God made us each special in some way. That is why we are all different. When one is weak another comes along to help them up. That is love. We need to love ourselves more and not compair ourselves to each other. We are all Gods gifts.
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