We live in a time where our self-worth is often defined by the way we appear to others.

If all of a sudden we can’t get as many likes on Instagram as our friend, or we can’t afford those shoes, or we can’t go to that music festival, we start to feel lesser than. We start to think this makes us somehow not good enough, but, we could not be more wrong.

The problem is not with us, the problem is what we choose to place importance on and what we allow to define us.

At the 2018 Passion Conference, Priscilla Shirer shared a phenomenal message, in which she said “…a time is coming when we are going to see our savior face to face, and when we see Him, He will not ask us how many Instagram followers we had… when we see Him face-to-face, He’s going to ask us if we did business with His Son Jesus Christ.”

You’ve heard the saying “If it won’t matter in five years, don’t spend more than five minutes thinking about it.” I think an even better version might be, “If it won’t matter when you stand before God, then it doesn’t matter at all.”

Not it “probably doesn’t matter” or it “doesn’t matter very much.” It doesn’t matter at all.

In the book of Isaiah, the prophet criticizes God’s people for committing idolatry and worshipping false gods. In chapter 1, verse 29 he says “Indeed, they will be ashamed of the sacred trees you desired, and you will be embarrassed because of the gardens you have chosen” (HSCB). God’s people were putting all of their time and effort into the wrong thing, and Isaiah called them out on it.

Now, I’ll go out on a limb here (pun intended) and say that most of us today probably don’t worship “sacred trees.” However, we do worship other things, whether we admit it or not. How much time do we spend editing our pictures for the most flattering light? How much time do we spend worrying about how impressive our lives look and what people think about us? How often do we seek first the approval and applause of others, rather than “the kingdom of God and His righteousness”? (Matthew 6:33, HSCB)

And like the people in this passage, we didn’t just come up with these false ideas about what matters all on our own. They adopted the practice of worshipping the wrong things from the people around them, just like we have. They chose to put their faith in the wrong “garden” just like we do.

We have sacrificed so much on the altar of “fitting in” that we have forgotten that we were never meant to “fit in” here. We have gotten so caught up in seeking the approval of others that we have forgotten that the only approval we need is God’s.

Does that not make life seem so much simpler? If that thought doesn’t give you an enormous amount of peace, then you’re looking at it the wrong way.

We don’t have to live with the constant stress and pressure that most people feel to act, look, dress, and speak a certain way. So, don’t stand before God with a great Instagram aesthetic, but a terrible prayer life. Don’t stand before God with great selfies, but a surface level relationship with Him.

Don’t stand before God embarrassed by your garden.