As a mom of three littles, I often find myself heaped in chaos. The laundry. The messes. The everyday cleaning. The toys. The dishes from breakfast, second breakfast, snack, lunch, second snack, dinner, and maybe a bedtime snack, just for good measure. It can be overwhelming having seemingly so much to do. As a wife and (for the most part) stay at home mom, it’s easy for me to attach my worth to the things that I accomplish. However, there are some problems with thinking this way.

The first problem with finding my worth in my ability to keep house is that when I don’t do it well, I feel like a failure, and having two toddlers and a baby makes “failing” easy.

The bigger problem with finding my worth in my accomplishments is that I am placing my worth in my own abilities rather than in Christ. I am losing track of where my focus needs to be.

It’s easy to be a Martha, when I need to be a Mary.

“Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.

But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42 ESV

While Martha was slaving away on serving, maybe housework, or just everyday mundane tasks, Mary was intent on listening to the words that Jesus was speaking. She was actively engaged and absorbing His teaching.

As believers we need to do the same. We need to stop focusing on the housework and the menial tasks that consume our lives and focus on the teachings of Christ.

My grandfather used to say that, as Christians, “we may be the only Bible some people read”. It’s sobering to think that your words and actions have that much power. That is the reason Paul tells us in Ephesians 5:1 to “be imitators of God”. We have been tasked with making our lives a reflection of God. We have been tasked with focusing on Christ. We have been tasked with setting aside the housework and putting His teachings into action.

I realize struggling with housework may not be a problem for everyone, but what about the other areas of your life? Are your days so with work, sports, schedules, school, vacations, hobbies, home improvement, etc. to say yes to the Holy Spirit’s whisper in your ear? To DO what you are being asked to do?

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”

James 1:22 NIV

Satan makes it SO easy for us to deceive ourselves into thinking that our worth comes from our accomplishments or activities. He wants us to believe that the housework is more important than other things. He wants us to be like Martha – consumed with the everyday tasks so that we lose focus of what is important. He wants to cloud the mirror of our lives so that we do not reflect God’s glory.

As I tackle my housework yet again today I am reminded to relax a little and give myself some slack. My worth doesn’t lie folded in a stack of laundry, or stacked up with clean dishes. It isn’t hidden in a tub under the bed with the other toys, or seen in the crisp, clean windows I likely won’t get to. It’s found in Christ.

Where is your worth found?

Are you an imitator of God? Are you choosing the good portion? Are you putting your worth in Christ? Or are you too distracted with the housework?

Natalya Ables
Children’s Director