Can all of us Moms just come together and agree to stop comparing ourselves to others?  And to stop putting others down, just to make ourselves feel a bit better?  Agreed?  Goodness, I remember as a child feeling like I could not wait for adulthood, because being an adult meant no cliques, no ‘mean girls’, no comparisons.  I think we all know I was a delusional child.  High school mean girls don’t hold a candle to what grown women are capable of.  Why do we do this?

I can’t help but think it boils down to the big I word: INSECURITY.  Now as I’ve mentioned before, if you look up ‘insecurity’ in Webster’s Dictionary, my awkward middle school picture is under the definition.  I’m somewhat of an expert on the subject.  I get the low self-esteem thing, I get feeling like you don’t measure up, I get feeling like everyone else out there has it all together except you.  What I don’t get is why some take it out on others.  Why some feel the need to take others down a notch or two so they can hold their heads a bit higher.

Moms are great at this.  Go to any social media site where there’s any discussion of motherhood, and a war of epic proportions will break out at any given time.  Stay at home Mom/working Mom, public school/private school, vaccinate/don’t vaccinate, organic food only/whatever you can afford to feed your kids.  I’m not kidding-you name it, it’s been discussed and taken to the point of “I’m better than you because I do this and you don’t…” on any of these forums.  I make a conscious effort to stay far away from these, even using that blessed ‘hide’ feature, in an effort to control my blood pressure.  It isn’t limited to social media of course, pretty much at any given moment a group of women are together, gossip will be in the air.  Isn’t Mommyhood- or even womanhood- hard enough without us turning on each other?

Of course, our present culture does nothing but fuel this fire.  We are constantly bombarded with the ‘Pinterest perfect’ ideal, and when we fall short-which of course we will because that level of perfection doesn’t exist-we feel like we’re not good enough.  We compare ourselves with so and so, and feel like we’ll never have it together like her. She has the perfect figure, perfect home, perfect husband and children, perfect job, you name it-it’s perfect.  Well…here’s the thing, and take me at my word: you’re that person to someone.

I’m convinced that deep down, we ALL feel insecure.  Obviously, some more than others, but it’s there.  I’ve learned through the years that more often than not, the more ‘perfect’ someone appears, the more insecure they are.  That woman who constantly criticizes others and spreads lies so she appears in a good light?  Truckload of insecurity.

Here’s the thing that I find so freeing and refreshing- our security should rest in Christ ALONE.  As Christians, we are HIS.  He is Who we should be worried about pleasing.  When we make that switch, it’s amazing how the burden is lifted.  When we line up with His will, when we know we have followed His Word, it truly doesn’t matter what else goes on.

This isn’t some rally cry for all Moms to hold hands in a circle and sing “Kumbaya”, as nice as that would be.  I just wish every girl/woman/Mom out there could see herself as the Lord does.  If we did, just think how much heartache we would save ourselves.  How much better our world would be.

Comparison is the thief of joy.  Let’s not allow ourselves to be robbed.