What Girls Get Wrong

Some time ago, I wrote a post about how dangerous it is to compare ourselves to others .  Whether your comparisons make you feel bad about yourself, or whether they cause you to feel superior to someone else, the comparing game causes pain. At least, when we're framing it in a me versus you format. Why did God include so many stories of people in the Bible?  If we shouldn't compare, why did He write of Esther and her courage, of Ruth and her diligence, of Tamar and her seduction, of Mary and her obedience, of Naomi and her bitterness? The Bible is ultimately the story of God, His creation, the first man and woman's betrayal, His undying love and sacrifice, and His rescue of mankind from their sin and complete victory over evil.  But along the way, we read of many people, both good and bad, both repentant and in denial. What was the reason for all of these stories?  Was it just to make the Bible longer?  Did God have a word count He wanted to hit, and so ...

“Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.’ So we may boldly say: ‘The L ord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?’” ~ Hebrews 13:5-6 It's pretty easy to feel alone. I'm not even going to say how easy it is to feel forsaken, forgotten, left out. I think you have a pretty good idea already. And when you feel alone, it's easy to start doubting God's goodness, to start wanting the blessings He's given someone else. To start wanting the life, the mission He's given someone else. It's the old "The grass is greener..." phenomena. We don't like our classes, so we start envying our friends who are already graduated and working. We don't like our jobs, so we envy those "kids" who are still living it up in high school and college. Or we start wondering why we didn't get ...