In the past we had a smaller circle of people to whom we compared ourselves.
We may have compared our vacation to our sibling’s vacation.
We may have compared our waistline to our friend’s waistline.
We may have compared our car to our neighbor’s car.
We may have compared our office to our coworker’s office.
Thanks to the advent of social media, though, we now have literally hundreds of people to whom we can compare ourselves. We only need log in to Facebook or open up Instagram to find people who make our lives seem mundane, unattractive, boring and undesirable.
The problem with social media, though, is that people really only post the exotic, attractive, exciting and desirable parts of their lives.
Our siblings may post a picture of their exotic vacation, but not their mundane home life.
Our friends may post an attractive selfie, but not the 20 other unattractive selfies they took to get the one.
Our neighbors may post a picture of their exciting new sports car, but not the boring car bill they pay every month.
Our coworkers may post a picture of their desirable corner office, but not their undesirable 60-hour work weeks.
We can’t keep looking at the best parts of everyone else’s lives and comparing them to the worst parts of our own. When we do that, we end up feeling bad about ourselves and thinking that we’re not good enough or that our lives are somehow lacking.
The reality is, though, that we were good enough for God to send his son to die for us so we shouldn’t let social media make us doubt our inherent value. Instead of looking into a mirror for our self-worth, we should look to the manger where Jesus came to be with us. And instead of looking at social media for our value, we should look at the cross where Jesus died for us.
We should also keep our social media lives from becoming a greatest hits album. We all have our “Where the Streets Have No Name” days, but we also have our “Discotheque” days. For every picture we post of vacations, good hair days and evenings with friends, we should post a #BoringTuesday picture. We all have great days but we also have boring days when nothing that great happens. #BoringTuesday is a great way to show the world that you’re life isn’t always the best and sometimes you’re just stuck behind a desk or another car in traffic.
So go ahead and post a #BoringTuesday picture today. Not because our lives can’t be exciting and not because we don’t matter to God. But because our lives don’t need to always be exciting, especially when God loves us enough to send his son to a manger and eventually to a cross.
What can you post for #BoringTuesday?
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