Get Real

Have you ever logged into one of your social media accounts and, as you scroll through the endless posts, you slowly start to feel drained?

You look at the mom who shared a photo of everything they bought for their children for a certain holiday, and suddenly, you feel bad about the amount of gifts you got your children—even if just seconds ago you were perfectly content with it.

Or you scroll by a photo of that friend who shared their daily routine of getting up early to exercise and then quietly enjoyed their morning coffee before they started their day. You try to remember the last time you actually exercised, let alone enjoyed time to yourself in the run of your busy day—whether you’re a busy college student, your health is poor, your job is demanding, or your kids need you 24/7.

Or maybe you are beating yourself up over having another “staycation” this year, meanwhile you’re looking at all of those picture-perfect vacations your friends, and internet strangers, are living out.

Perhaps, we worry that the way we are living seemingly doesn’t measure up to the rest of the people in our lives, and that somehow, we are doing something wrong if our lives don’t look as exciting.

Well, I’m here to remind you that you can’t compare your life to those of everyone around you, and you certainly shouldn’t assume that what you see in a couple of social media posts is representative of someone’s whole day or life.

Likely, that “Kodak-moment” photo you are envying was posted right after a toddler tantrum or before having a fight with their partner, or any of the number of other ways that we humans sin on a daily basis. Of course, we don’t take photos of those moments. They aren’t pretty and certainly not the parts of our lives we want to show off.

Friend, when this happens to you, I encourage you to remember that there’s not a child that doesn’t have a meltdown, and there’s not an adult who doesn’t sin. There was only ever ONE perfect human to walk this earth, and He didn’t have Instagram. Yes, I’m talking about Jesus. He is perfect and holy and righteous, and the rest of us fall short in every way—despite what you see on social media.

The best we can do is live a life that is pleasing to God by striving to live the way that Jesus lived and the way that is spelled out for us in the Bible. By loving God, loving others, and living with a servant’s heart—this is how we represent and glorify God.

That’s the way we can combat envy, guilt, or any other negative feeling thrown at us. That’s how we beat the silent competitions that happen every day online. You remind yourself that there is no other human out there better than you or worse than you, and that we are all sinners that fall short of the glory of God. BUT, for those of us who believe in Jesus and call Him our Lord and Savior, there’s hope!

Through His death, He took our sins away and, in turn, gave us His righteousness. What a great deal for us! He must love us an awful lot to willingly choose to draw the short straw like that. So, because of this loving act, when God looks at us, He sees what Jesus did on the cross for us and He accepts us as His children, and that’s the ONLY kind of acceptance we ever need.

In Jesus, we find joy that gets us through the day.

In Jesus, we find peace that surpasses all understanding.

In Jesus, we find the strength to be kind to others—even when they are not being kind to us.

In Jesus, we find a way to be grateful for everything in our lives.

In Jesus, we find our ultimate contentment through all of life’s circumstances.

So, next time you find yourself feeling discouraged by something you see online, remember that you are only seeing a small snapshot of someone’s day. You can use that moment as an opportunity to step back and pray that God renews in you a right spirit—one filled with joy, peace, kindness, gratitude, and contentment.

I don’t think everyone is called to share their harder moments with the world, and I also don’t believe there is anything wrong with sharing your happy memories with the world.

However, I do think it’s important to make sure there are a few people in your life that we can be transparent with. People that you can talk to when you are stressed from the piles of laundry in your house, or that you have 3 essays due within a week of each other and you want to pull your hair out.

People that you can “get real” with.

Those people are the best. Those friendships ground you and remind you that no one’s life is perfect. Even better is when they point you to Christ in everything, pray with you when you’re having a hard day, and praise God with you when it’s a good day.

If you don’t have anyone like that in your life, I encourage you to pray for God to place people like that in your life. My own experience with my sisters in Christ has been so precious and invaluable to me.

Praying for you 💕

Stay blessed!

Rachel