Things That Don't Matter

Hey. So last Sunday at church, our pastor spoke about being Christ-like and I was like..."Whoa. I totally forgot all about that. I should think about that more in my week." So I did. Fast forward to this evening...I was at a party and my friend was being rather mean to me all night and then the opportunity came to be "mean" to her back and I figured since everyone else was doing it, what the heck?

Ha. Fail.

Yeah, so that wasn't a great decision. So much for being Christ-like, huh? However, in that, I did get something out of it...something that I've always known, but don't always remember:

It doesn't matter what other people are doing.


I like lists. So let's make a list, shall we?

Things That Don't Matter:
-What other people are saying
-What other people are doing
-How other people look
-What other people think of you

Things That Do Matter:
-What God thinks of you

I know, I'm sounding Sunday-schoolish..but it's true. Just because other people are being mean, or saying bad things, or whatever - doing anything that wouldn't glorify God - that doesn't mean it's acceptable for me to do it. We have to constantly remember that God sees everything, and when He judges us, He doesn't see anyone else. When looking at our own actions, we have to use Jesus as the standard, and not anyone or anything else. Just because you're "better than most people", doesn't necessarily mean you're glorifying God, you know?

So just this once, stop thinking about others and start thinking about yourself. Regardless of what other people are doing, what am I doing? Would it be acceptable to God?

Because that's what really matters.