Reflections

Recently I met with a student from the youth ministry at our church. Before we ended our conversation that night I told her that I thought I'd learned more from our little chat than she did. We talked a lot about pleasing others and always feeling the need to "measure up" or meet expectations or have others pat you on the back and say "Wow. Look how good you are."

I sat and reflected in silence for a moment and looked at her and said, "At some point we have to realize that we can't please others.... If I had learned that at your age - my life might look a lot different. There are many directions I might not have taken if it wasn't for others to say 'Wow. Look at Christina!'"...

My desire should be for others to see my actions and say, "Wow. Look at Jesus!" Always reflecting God's glory. I measured my life and tried to think of all the things I do - in most of my day to day activities there's a piece of wanting my own glory instead of God's (ah-em... even this blog for example). That's not a reflection of the Lord and that's not being transformed into his likeness. I need to continue finding ways to eliminate the need for praise and learn what it's like to feel joy when people turn to God instead of me.