Just who are we really trying to please? 31 Days to Clean by Sarah Mae ~ Day 28

I have a love/hate relationship with the Internet, books, podcasts, whatever.

Basically, a love/hate relationship with anything that tries to motivate or inspire me to alter my life or way of doing things.

Mostly, I think it is because I love to learn new things or try to improve myself, but I also beat myself up too much. I'm always thinking, "well, so and so keeps her house cleaner than I do." Or, "Martha Stewart or (insert friend's name here) is much more creative and crafty than I am." Or, "She's a better mother than I am and can seemingly hold it all together while accomplishing much more than I can," etc.

Often times, the things that either inspire or drag me down are just random things people will say (that they probably didn't think through before they said them anyway) that makes me feel like I should be listening to them and then impose their standard on myself. Why do I do that?

I hate that!

Thankfully, I'm aware of this shortcoming so that I'm trying to do battle with it all the time.

This is not to say that we should never allow ourselves to be inspired by others who do things differently. That is one of the ways we learn and grow as individuals.

But there does come a point where you have to say to yourself that "Yes, she does things differently than I do. She also has struggles and problems just like I do." We need to accept ourselves for where we are and strive to love ourselves. Not be so hard or beat ourselves up all the time.

Comparing ourselves to others only leads down the road to depression.

The happy thing in all of this is that Jesus loves us exactly for who we are, right now. He's not waiting until our houses are cleaner, we are thinner, our children are better behaved or even until we have a better attitude. He loves us. That's all there is to it.

It is high time we accept his love and learn to love ourselves in the process.

Let go of what that seemingly well meaning lady from your church told you about how she raises her kids and whatever else she may have said.

You are you.

You do things your way and if it is working for you then embrace it.

You do not have to please everyone. Focus on trying to please the Lord and taking the best care of yourself and your family that you can and the rest will follow.

Today, try to clean the sink and drains in the laundry/utility room.