There’s a message cluttering the path of women everywhere. Like a rocky mountain trail in the dead of winter, we step the best we can–over, around, past it. But there are always more rocks under our feet. We step and step and step wearing out our hiking boots, and eventually we all stumble over it.
I can’t do this.
Maybe someone else can, but not me.
I’m not a successful person, and I don’t know how to be.
I’m not a good mom.
I’m not a good wife.
I’m not a good friend.
Why did I ever think I could go after my dream?
Each phrase we hear is slightly different, but the message is always the same. It’s a rock poking into our feet, tripping us up, causing us to turn an ankle, waiting for us to fall. The unspoken, negative words against who we are & what we’re accomplishing in life. We stumble as we look at all the other women out there:
*Pursuing a career & achieving success
*Serving in a thriving ministry & realizing their calling
*Committed to a loving marriage & raising a God-centered family
*Living a fulfilling life & enjoying healthy relationships with close friends
There are many other things we can look at, besides our God-given purpose, and slowly we allow those things to sink deep down into our hearts and minds. <Just scroll through social media to find them.> Do we realize how we’re allowing these images of others to steal, kill and destroy so many areas in our own lives?
*our contentment
*our joy
*our purpose
So we reach for…
All the comparison, envy, striving, etc. can easily lead to feeding on this lie. It’s beautiful, it’s popular and all the pretty people have it. Packaged in kraft paper wrapping and covered in glitter cellophane, in bistro letters the label reads: #ALLTHETHINGS. We think it’s real. We post it all on Instagram and tweet it on Twitter, but when we open it to eat of its contents, there’s nothing but the stale, week-old, moldy bread of GUILT inside.
Now what do we do? We get angry because that’s not what we ordered from life. It’s not what we paid for. It’s not what we waited in line to receive. We look over to see a strong, content, understated woman sitting at a table of this restaurant with a plateful of fresh baked bread big enough to share. Real butter coats the crispy crust and drips over the sides of the loaf onto the bistro plate, and all at once our heart realizes. This.
This is what we wanted all along. The Bread of Life.
When we take in the words of Jesus–our Bread of Life–and feed on His Word, we are sure to be filled. There is no guilt when we are feeding on this goodness. The Bible says we will never hunger and never thirst. No more hunger for the next thing around the corner. No more thirsting after the success of others. No more worrying about whether we’re making the right choices. No beating ourselves up about where we are in life.
We feed on the bread of life and now we find we have it all. Our lives no longer feel hungry. We throw away the life of guilt and find in Christ we are…
*Filled.
*Whole.
*Complete.
I hope today you receive this message as a love letter from Christ. His messages are rich, full and fulfilling. I pray we each make the decision to throw away the world’s rotten, conflicting messages of comparison and guilt & choose to be filled with the Word of life.
Guilt-Free in 2018.
Grace to you,
Nicki
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