I do not get up before dawn each morning. Instead, I sleep until my body is well rested, and then I get out of bed. (It’s a novel idea – you should try it. I call it my “we’re often up late and if I don’t get enough sleep I get sick so this is how I avoid coming down with pneumonia strategy”.)  For a long time, I’ve struggled with the way my “sleeping in” looks to others. If I’m just getting out of bed at 7:45 am, might some think I am being lazy? Maybe, although, if you’re feeling brave, ask my husband if I’m lazy. He’s likely to ask you how long you’ve got so that he can give you a detailed run-down of what my days look like. ;)

The real question should be, do you or your uncle or your neighbor’s cousin’s dog really care what time I get up in the morning? Do I really think there are people sitting at their desk or at their kitchen table drinking coffee, pondering what time Laura gets up each morning? If I think that people are actually doing this, how self-focused am I anyway?

Do you ever worry about stuff like this? Are there decisions you’ve made in your life that you feel good about, or are even convicted about, yet you worry about what others might think of your decision?

For instance, I love schooling my kids at home and grinding flour to make our bread and baked goods from scratch. I feel called by God to do these things for my family. But I promise that I don’t sit at my kitchen table drinking coffee, pondering the fact that you might send your kids to school, buy white bread from the store or hand your kids a Twinkie for an afternoon snack. You know why I’m not pondering your choices over a cup of coffee? Because I trust that you are living your life the way you feel God is calling you to live. And also because I don’t like coffee.

The question is then, are we all walking around judging each other, or are we all just walking around thinking that everyone else is judging? Do we look at what others are doing and feel “less than” because we aren’t doing what they seem to be doing? If so, by whose standard are we living and by whose criteria are we making choices?

If we’re spending time worrying about what others think of us, it seems to me that we’re wasting a lot of God-given time that could be used in a much more productive way for the Kingdom.

I am working to believe that it really doesn’t matter what others think about the way I live my life. What matters in my life is that I am following God’s calling for me according to scripture. What matters is that I am listening to what He is asking me to do, serving the people He puts in my path to serve, and honoring Him in my choices and actions.

By whose standard are you living?