Comparison

This is something that I struggle with a lot but especially recently, I feel like it has been affecting me more and more, to the point that I feel like it is actually taking a toll on me personally. Especially when it comes to my relationships.

I struggle with comparison the most with the people around me. To put it bluntly, my closest friends are very privileged and don’t really have to worry about anything other than school. They don’t have to have a job. They use their parents credit cards when money is tight. They have college paid for and no debt. The number of things they wouldn’t even being to understand. The list could go on. And because my parents read this, I don’t want to sound like I am complaining. I am VERY thankful for what I have and for the opportunities that I have. For what having a job and going to school full time teaches me. For learning how to provide for myself early on. This list could also go on. But it’s hard to not compare my life to others when, everyday, I have to face those same people and listen to how they’ve already paid for things, or they’ve already completed the assignment due that week, or anything else that makes me feel less than or hindered by. 

And honestly, sometimes it makes me wonder why some peoples lives are just so perfect and easy and I’m over here just struggling to get by. And I start to push those people away or steer the conversation in a different direction or just do anything so I don’t have to hear about their success or stress-free life.

But I get mad at myself after because that is just the life they have. And for all I know, they could not like it or be hiding all kinds of things from me. I’ve had to really begin to take a step back and try to see things from other people’s perspective. 

Galatians 6:4 says it perfectly, “Pay careful attention to your own work, for then you will get the satisfaction of a job well done, and you won’t need to compare yourself to anyone else.” Everything we think about ourselves, comes from our hearts, not from other people. If we put our focus on ourselves and what we’re doing, there will be no time to compare ourselves to others. Everyone’s story is different and that is something that I’ve had to learn to come to terms with. God made ME to go through what I am going through. I can’t change it, but I can embrace it and live to only satisfy God.

Update…

Hey friends!

So its been a minute since I’ve written on here but my life has been crazy busy this last semester and I’ve had to put aside extra things that didn’t have to do with school. But this semester is over and I am going to hold myself accountable to continue to use this outlet for what I intended it for and to continue to write. It’ll probably be sporadic but I figure something is better than nothing, right?

Love, Taylor

Faith Won’t Get You Through

Yes, I know the title is harsh.

A lot of the time, people think that by praying about something or just “keeping the faith” is enough to see God move in the areas that they are praying about. We beg of God to do this or do that, praying, memorizing scripture, going to church, etc. But honestly, this is not biblical.

Yes, you should do all those things. But no, you should not only do those things. James 2:26 says that, “For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without works is dead.”

In simple terms, faith requires action. Yes, the first step of the action is asking God through prayer, but it does not stop there. You have to put what you’ve prayed for into action. If you’re praying for relationships, be outgoing. Put yourself out there. If you’re praying for finances, be smart and work harder. If you have goals set, work towards them. We cannot pray, put our faith in God, and then sit back and let Him take care of everything. Where is the lesson in that? We have to live based on God’s guidance and then work towards the solution that is part of His plan.

 

Contentment

I have always heard to never use the words “always” and “never.”

I even used those words in that sentence! There is such a permanence to these words in that they leave no room for change or progression. But we use them all the time without knowing their value.

Never is defined as  happening at no time in the past or future; on no occasion; not ever. Always is defined as happening at all times; on all occasions. These words mean the exact opposite of each other, yet have the same permanence behind them.

These words are used to describe many situations and people. But, how can someone or a situation change if the only words spoken about it are words that don’t leave room for change or improvement?

There are a lot of things in life that make us feel that we’ll never be good enough, or never be attractive enough. Or on the other side, a person always has it better than me or we ask why does this always happen to me. I am guilty of feeling/saying all those things.

It is hard in this world we live in today, with social media and the attention that people bring on themselves and the things that they do, to feel content and that our life has value and worth. And when things are seeming to never go our way or are always happening to us, it is harder too see the life that we live and accept it.

I have heard so much about contentment recently and it is something that I definitely struggle with because a lot of the time it seems like things keep happening that make me think that everyone has it better than me. I always feel like people have it easier than me. I feel like somehow everything I do I’m never as good as someone else. But God did not create us to feel this way

This past Sunday, my pastor talked about contentment and having wisdom through it. He used a passage from Philippians that is very well known but has a deeper meaning. Philippians 4: 11-13 says, “¹¹ I don’t say this out of need, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I find myself. ¹² I know both how to make do with little, and I know how to make do with a lot. In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content—whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need. ¹³ I am able to do all things through him^[a] who strengthens me.”

I forget the context that Philippians 4:13 is in, a lot like how I forget that not everyone has it better than me and how not everyone is better than me. Though it is so much easier to let the world get the best of us, God has so much more in store because He strengthens us through every circumstance, no matter how large or small. 

A Cheerful Giver

A cheerful giver. This phrase is heard a lot, especially during the holiday season but, I never really knew how true this phrase could be until yesterday.

So here’s a little backstory…

Through a series of events and lack of anywhere else to go, I was forced to live with two random roommates this semester in a not very nice apartment complex on the other side of town from most of my friends. I can honestly say that this has been one of the most difficult things that I have ever had to deal with. My roommates have turned out to be less than cooperative, have christmas decorations taking up every inch of storage space, and have yet to pick up a broom this entire semester. So there’s my vent for this post.

Anyways, being in the college internship at my church has led me to really understand what it means to love the unloveable and to be kind no matter what consequences I am in. So I started thinking. Obviously, God had to have put me with these roommates for a specific reason because I can’t bear the thought of going through this for nothing! So I decided to just be nice. No matter how many times I have to take the trash all the way to the dumpster or how many times I have to clean the apartment BY MYSELF, or most of all whether or not they are nice back. And yesterday, I saw just a small glimmer of hope that all of my suffering may be worth it.

I decided at the beginning of last week that I was going to just get a small christmas/finals week gift for each of my roommates just to be nice, to be the bigger person. Not expecting anything ,even a thank you, in return (if you know, you know). So I made them each a gift bag with some candy, a starbucks gift card, and a little note to say merry christmas and to wish them luck on their first finals week (did I mention that they are both freshman). I left both bags on the kitchen table when I left my apartment yesterday morning and left it up to God to do the rest. A few hours later I got a sweet thank you text from each of them. I knew just from their texts that they were taken aback by the gesture.

So here is where the cheerful giver part comes in.

Yesterday at church, it was our legacy Sunday and my pastor talked about being a cheerful giver, despite the hopelessness that surrounds people in this season. I saw first hand what it like from the givers perspective, to see what just a small kind gesture can mean to someone who does not have the hope of Jesus.

So in saying that, the verse 2 Corinthians 9:6-7 is something that we should all think about when giving this season. “Remember this- a farmer who plants only a few seeds will get a small crop. But the one who plants generously will get a generous crop. You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. ‘For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.'”

Speaking from experience, I know it is hard to give (I’m a college kid working a minimum wage job). But having seen the effects of giving and what it meant to me to see how touched my roommates were by a small act of kindness, imagine what it could look like if everyone gave a little this season. My pastor said that “cheerfully” in this verse means with laughter. I think this world would be a whole lot happier.

Love, Taylor