What Goes on Inside Your Home?

Last night I was scrolling through Instagram before bed and I came across a photo of a home project that someone was doing. I don’t follow many “home” accounts, but this particular one was from was an account that focuses on home decor.

The comments grieved me. So many people were saying they wished they could afford this beautiful home and others were commenting how they spend hours copying the looks on the account only to become depressed because they can’t. Others said they were spending enormous amounts of money trying to achieve the looks of these homes.

I put my phone away and prayed. I prayed for our culture. 

We used to get catalogs in the mail from places like Pottery Barn and such…that we couldn’t afford. I remember we were young, newly married, with a new baby, and those catalogs depressed me. I would feel the need to make my house look like those in the catalogs and when I realized I had no money to do it, my mood was affected. It was a distraction. I would spend way too much time and money trying to achieve how things looked, rather than focusing on my heart.

So I started to throw those catalogs out when they arrived. I stopped opening them.

Over the years I have learned contentment doesn’t come from how my home looks. My home, just like everything else is an outflow of what goes on inside my heart.

 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

Right? 

When we are focused on God first, the Pottery Barn catalogs seem much less important. Of course, I want my home to be a place of respite and comfort for all those who enter and for those of us who live here…but that doesn’t necessarily come from the perfect couch or staged room.

It comes from feeling the love of Jesus in your home.

A home is an overflow of your relationship with God, just like anything else. It is a place where people will know God dwells. And that is where the beauty comes from. Not a staged photo of that perfect “look.”

I worry about our media-saturated culture these days. When you scroll through your phone and are bombarded with images it is hard to separate the truth sometimes. Catalogs aren’t an issue when we have TV channels dedicated 24 hours to tell us how our homes should look, Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook…all of it in our faces all the time.

The truth is God cares about what goes on inside your home. We should be more concerned with the things that take place inside those four walls than what paint color to put on them.

I grieve for a society that cultivates coveting. All of these images are a slippery slope that makes our flesh want, want, want. And coveting is a sin. Yet, our culture fosters it by telling us we need more. And we buy into the lie.

Today, look around your home and be delighted that it is the place God has given you to dwell. And how can you use it to build relationships? And most importantly to let others see God?

A home is a haven and a place for us to seek shelter. Ultimately, God is our dwelling place and our shelter.

Don’t forget that.

**NEW** LOW PRICE FOR RETREAT TICKETS! Register today. Space is Limited!

This summer, I am hosting a women’s retreat in Gettysburg, PA. In a world of excess, we are going to focus on that fact that Jesus is enough. The world will tell you YOU are enough. But truly, HE is enough. He is all we need. We don’t rely on ourselves, or earthly comforts, but on Him alone.  I have lived with it all stripped away, and I have seen that yes, Jesus is enough. In fact, Jesus is MORE than enough.

Early Bird Registration is Open! Join us for this life-changing and life-giving event. You will spend two days with other sisters in Christ, tired of what the world offers, and ready to live the life that HE offers.

---