Bible Verse Friday #24

"Do not judge others, and you will not be judged.  For you will be treated as you treat others.  The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged". ~ Matthew 7:1-2

Society teaches us to judge people.

There are shows out there that make the Dad's/Husband's look and sound unintelligent, lazy, and overall inferior in the household.

There is advertising that makes us believe that beauty comes in certain sizes and only in those sizes.

There are products out there that fool us into believing we need them to look good.

Worldly views can make stay at home Mom's feel inadequate, unfulfilled.

Misconceptions teach us that we must keep up with the Jones's in order to be happy.

STOP!

Stop listening to all of that.

"Do not judge others, and you will not be judged".

Simple, clear, concise.

However, I think there is a part of this that we forget.

We need to be careful judging ourselves.

We are our own worst critics.

We look in the mirror and dislike what we see.

We want to look a certain way, we want to feel a certain way all the time, and we want what everyone has.

The things of this earth are so minuscule in the long run.

This topic is heavy on my heart lately, for many reasons.

I have a lot of blog friends who I converse with on a regular basis and I love them all so much.

I pray for them, when they ask, and often when they don't.

I want to tell each one of them how beautiful they are!

I want to tell each one of them how their honesty is refreshing, we don't have to be happy each and every day.  It's okay to have a season of sadness, irritation, frustration, etc.  As long as it's only a season.

I want to tell each of them that what they are doing, whether it be staying home with kids, working outside of the home, or preparing to send kids off into the world and start a new journey, that they are doing something so worthwhile!

I want to tell everyone of them that I have fallen victim to the concept of keeping up with the Jones's.

Bud and I are planning to start Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University to get rid of our student loan debt.

I'm not going to say the number here, because that's not the relevant part.

The relevant part is that I have been nervous to admit that despite it being money we used to educate ourselves....it's debt and debt is not something I want looming over our family.

We could lie to ourselves and pay only the minimum amount, but we would never end up paying it off at that rate.

I could lie to myself and ignore it, but I think the first step is admitting it.

So I guess today's verse rings so true to me today because I'm afraid of being judged by admitting that we have debt.

That being said, remember the next time you look at someone else and be mindful of the first thought that runs through your mind.  

If you have a good thought...stop that person and share it with them...you might just make their day.

If you have a negative thought...stop yourself and reevaluate...find something nice about that person and then share it with that person, they may need to hear it more than you realize.

I think that if we take a moment to start appreciating everyone we will feel less hung up about ourselves.

Thank you for listening today!

I hope you have a Blessed Friday!