Women's Fellowship, A Read Along with Beth Moore

I go to a women's fellowship on Thursday nights. I haven't been able to go faithfully but I have gotten to go 4 times out the 12 or so times they've met but Thursday's fellowship was awesome! We're doing a read along with Beth Moore's book "So Long Insecurities". And she said something sort of profound in the chapter we listened to.

"Where in the world did we conclude that we have to subtract value from ourselves in order to give credit to someone else?"-Beth Moore

Let that sink in for just a moment. As women we have all compared ourselves to one another at some point. We do it so often we've grown numb to it and don't even realize we're doing it. And there is a million different ways we do it. We're not just talking about looks, although isn't this one of the most obvious ways we compare ourselves? If you're a mom you could be comparing yourself to other moms and all of the things they accomplish alongside raising their children (yep, you caught me there, this is one is talking to me), or a co-worker who has been promoted while you're still waiting for your big chance leaves you wondering what she has that you don't, maybe you're a stay at home mom and you feel guilty because all of your friends who are moms work eight hours a day to help provide for their family, or maybe it's the other way around (sorry so many mom examples, I can't help it!).

I believe it is healthy, and even needed to recognize the good in others but by no means does it make any sense to take something good about someone else and subtract it from my value as a person just because I don't possess the same specific quality as them. We can't be all things at all times. We are all unique, we possess different traits, characteristics, interests, etc. The list goes on. Find freedom in embracing your uniqueness and allow yourself to be blessed by the uniqueness of others instead of feeling condemned for not being more like them.

There is a difference in being inspired by other women and comparing ourselves. One is positive and uplifting, the other is bondage.

Another thing Beth pointed out in this chapter was while we're comparing ourselves with other women we're turning them into rivals. To consider someone a rival we have to depersonalize that person. Woah.

My friend Brittany who was also at the girls' night said something along the lines of "We need to take down the magnifying glass and view other women as people just like us. They have hearts just like we do, they have struggles, desires, etc." Brit is really insightful and has a big, wonderful heart, and I always love hearing her perspective.

I think I could go on and on about this issue. I didn't realize how important it was until Thursday. It's huge! This may end up being a continuous topic. I hope this blessed you and gave you a new perspective.

-Mandy

On a completely unrelated note:

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Since making the transition from blogpost to wordpress I've realized I need a better way to keep up with all the blogs I follow. I'm going to start the process of adding all the blogs I followed from there to blog lovin' as well as figure out how to move all of my old posts over to here.

Honestly, I haven't had time to even keep up with any of my usual reads but that's going to change soon once I have this whole thing figured out. :) I'm excited to get back to reading all your wonderful and inspiring blog posts!

Hope everyone has had a great week, enjoy your weekend!