She Stole My Life! (Part 1)

October 11, 2011 By 6 Comments

Ever feel like someone has hijacked your life?

There is this girl I know (okay, I don’t really know her, but I know about her) who is living my dream life. She owns and operates a big cattle ranch with her husband, writes and speaks at all the places I want to, authors books, is beautiful and to top it all off, she is in her early 20s instead of my ( 30 is approaching way too fast) late 20s. She’s a Christian too, so she’s got the all-important eternal life thing going on as well.

Sometimes I can’t help but wish I was her. She seems to have life all together – doing all the things that I hoped to do in my life and she’s years younger than me! Sadly though, she’s not the only one I envy…. successful bloggers, other mothers, better crafters, people who don’t have debt …  my envy list goes on and on. I bet there are some people that you are envying too. There is a huge temptation to compare ourselves with each other and want what others have (the Bible calls that coveting – ouch)! It’s one of the easiest sins to fall into.

When we start the whole envy conversation in our head, we need to start thinking about front porches – you know that place on your house that you like to keep visitors at when the inside of your house is a disaster! (I have totally been there!) Like our physical front porch we have an emotional one too. And unless you really get to know someone, all you ever see is the front porch of their life. We can make our lives look pretty darn good from the porch. 

Honestly, I don’t know what life is really like for that girl I have been envying. She could have more stress and heartache than I have ever had. But even if she doesn’t, Jesus assures us in John 16:33 that in this life we will all have trouble. Every single one of us.

So next time you start wishing you had someone else’s life, remember that you are just seeing their porch. Life could be quite a mess just inside the front door.

 

Join me next Tuesday for Part 2 of this series! I’ll tell you more about what  the Bible says about envy and share some insights from my life!
 
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  • Kristy

    Very, very true! Spoken by a very wise and beautiful woman! :)

    • http://roadtoranching.com shelli

      Thanks! ;)

  • Katie

    You’re right, it is soo easy to fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to others. For me it’s even more depressing when the person who has what I want or that is more “sucessful” then me is younger than me. I guess it makes me feel like I really don’t have my life together. This post is a good reminder for me to stop comparing and focus on my life…..cause I have so much more than I deserve :)

  • Evelyn

    Hey, twenty something, you are wise beyond your years. I never thought of the front porch thing. How true. We only let folks see what we want them to see, never the real side of our lives. I am very guilty of that. I really do have a very nice front porch overlooking flowers and a green lawn (then the street), but growing among the beauty of the flowers are weeds that envy the beauty of those flowers and are trying to reach high enough to cover the beauty that God creates in blooming flowers. That’s what envy can also do, and it can spread and take everything over. We all need to be careful.

  • http://twitter.com/LeahsBows Leah’s Lil Bowtique

    Nice reminder, Shelli! It is so hard not to fall into the “keeping up with the Jones” trap. Excited to read part 2.

  • Meg

    Then every so often you see the other side of that supposedly perfect life and you realize that other people struggle, too.