The sun is pouring in through the window, pressing against your sheets; you hop out of bed and pop on a face mask, drink celery juice and prepare your morning matcha latte. Rested on the kitchen table near a big bouquet of peonies, your journal is opened and you are ready to write you your goals for the day. Life feels perfect, peaceful and productive – you’re that girl.
‘That girl’ is a lifestyle trend with booming popularity across most social media platforms. I love clean white sheets, steaming cups of matcha in the morning, green smoothies and a ‘healthy lifestyle’. However, beneath the Gucci purse and sparkling new jeep, ‘that girl’ offers a lifestyle that holds no lasting and deep value. Moreover, desperately trying to become ‘that girl’ is not living out God’s best call for you life: He wants you to look to Him for purpose and value.
God calls us to resist comparison and envy and be content with living simple, peaceful lives. “Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another.” Galatians 5:26 and 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12, Paul tells Christians that while loving one another we are “to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”
We compare, we desire, we purchase, we believe the lie that once we have what they have we will be ‘enough’ and we will be satisfied. We are chasing counterfeit versions of ‘living’, and killing our minds in the process.
Did you know that the rates of anxiety and mental health disorders in girls have risen drastically over the last few years? One study found that the number of girls who often felt nervous, worried or fearful jumped by 55 percent over a five-year period. Here’s another study pointing to the correlation between social media usage and anxiety.
The Problem with “That Girl”: She’s Counterfeit.
Aren’t we tired of a manufactured, shallow life? Aren’t we tired of a life that emphasises fitness and fame, new cars and romantic relationships? When do we realise that these things will never deeply satisfy? We are stripped dry and empty, left hungering for more. God wants us to come to Himself and to Depend on Him. He is is provider. And there is nothing counterfeit about Him; He leads us in paths of righteousness for His name’s sake (Psalm 23).
Do we trust that God will provide absolute everything you need? Look at the birds of the air, they do not sow or reap or store away in barns and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Soak this in – how small your life is compared to eternity. Drink this up – how much time do you spend slowly poisoning your mind, concerned about ‘living up’ to expectations.
Counterfeit: What lies have you believed? What friendships are you holding onto that are not the real thing? What life are you trying to live that is not your own? Are you trying to live up to ‘that girl’ rather than embrace your identity in Christ?
The King of the Universe wants Your heart, and He wants to make you whole IN Him.
Surrender all to Him
Pause now and slow down and say “Abba, Father, Here is my Life. Make me whole. Make me ready to do your will. May Your Kingdom come and Your will be done”.
We pour fake tan, we fill our bodies with nutritious foods, we engorge our minds with netflix, books or meaningless chatter; what if we poured hope, God’s word, seeking Him in Truth and in Spirit?
We exchange our attention for lies.
We exchange a scroll on a screen for a sense or loss of self-worth.
We exchange our souls
for ‘inspiring lifestyle’ content from a meaningless app:
Lies – deception – greed
Counterfeit layers of manipulation
Taking your attention, stealing your time.
If we live a version of ourselves we think is acceptable in the world’s eyes,
We aren’t really living.
Look up!
God is calling you to Himself
The problem with becoming that girl is that we choose the world’s status over God’s calling: To step into the fullness of God’s plans for our lives, we must resist temptation and seek first the Kingdom of God, looking to Him for purpose. (Having fresh white sheets, using face masks, drinking celery juice and being highly organised are still wonderful, but they’re certainly not an important ‘calling’ or ‘identity’ as believers).
We need to live in the present and be preoccupied by what God is doing now. Walk in Truth and lay up treasures in heaven:
Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Matthew 6:19-21
Let’s swing wide the door to praise, and honour God in what we do. He has called us according to His purpose and His plans. He is faithful.
Journal prompts:
Where are you refusing to obey God in exchange for counterfeit acceptance from others?
Too many of us are trying to be someone or something else, in order to be accepted. Are you living off a lifestyle dream that is influenced by what those around you are doing rather than being open to God’s will and desires for your life?
Who are you serving? Do you worship God or worship your ideals of what life should be?
You may also enjoy:
The Path to Slowing Down and Enjoying Life
Delighting in God, an Antidote to Controlling My Simple Life
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