When you don’t feel like a “good enough” Christian…

We all know those women who just seem like “better Christians” than we do.

They always have an eternal perspective to earthly problems. Their answers are laced with hard-won wisdom, and the words of their prayers seem more righteous. When they respond, it’s grace-filled and kind. And they don’t get flustered when life gets big.

Their relationship with Jesus just seems … perfect.

So often, we can’t help but worship these amazing women. And because we see their lives and their faith as flawless, we can often place these women on a pedestal of perfection.

But when we do… when we consider them as better-than-us Christians… we’re left with those familiar “I’m not good enough” feelings that tangle us.

And that’s not God’s heart for us.

I bet you can think of a few women who are just wonderful — women firm in their faith no matter what, and resolved to do the right thing.

Here is where our adoration takes a turn…

When we compare our sometimes messy, childlike faith to her seemingly perfect and mature faith… it’s easy to feel like we’re not doing it right.

It’s in those moments we easily forget how far we’ve journeyed with God. We forget the depth of relationship we’ve forged, and the ways He has healed and restored us.

And while we may not witness her private struggles or crisis of faith, rest assured she has those messy, childlike moments too.

So often though, we only see the blue ribbon parts of her relationship with Jesus. 

Truth is, it’s healthy to admire someone’s faith. There are many women I look at with great respect and think, “I want what they have.” They encourage me to spend more time with God. They challenge me to rethink how I’m living my day-to-day. They remind to go back to my first love. And rather than be discouraged, I’m energized.

But it becomes unhealthy when we’re too tangled in worry or self-condemnation because our faith doesn’t look like hers.

Have you ever considered that these women you admire (and sometimes envy) for their faith have a divinely inspired part to play in the growth of yours?

I’d like to suggest that it’s God’s plan for you to become a product of the bits and pieces these faith-filled women are sowing (and have sown) into your life.

So instead of comparing yourself to them, instead of being intimidated by or jealous of them… why not thank God for strategically placing them in your path?

And never forget that your relationship with Jesus is a personal one. It won’t look like anyone elses because you weren’t created to be anybody’s exact duplicate.

You were created to be completely unique in every way.

©2015 Carey Scott