Unmotivated by the Holidays

I am a bit unmotivated for the holidays.

I blame social media. I am seeing all these posts about new ways to wrap presents. Some don’t even need tape! I thought I had a pretty good handle on how to wrap a gift until I saw these things.

In addition, as impressive as all these ideas are, I can’t help but wonder to myself whether I am going to even wrap any presents this year. The same pressure applies to recipes, décor, and a million other things that I never knew I needed.

It's enough to make one feel not only inadequate but down right unmotivated. Nothing is going to be good enough according to these new imaginary standards from the world.

The thing with worldly standards is that they are just that…worldly. And by definition, not really important because they have nothing to do with the heart. Whether I create an elaborate origami wrapped gift tucked inside a massive bow or whether I don’t wrap a gift at all shouldn’t really matter as much as my heart behind it.

I need to remind myself that the world looks at outward appearances but God looks at the heart. I don’t think this is just for physical appearance, I think it can also relate to the appearance of other things as well. If I can focus on being filled with the Holy Spirit rather than what the world is saying, then I think I have a chance to regain some of my motivation.

Questions

Do you feel like it is harder to be filled with the Holy Spirit while preparing for the holidays?

What are all the expectations you have of yourself over the next month?

Of all those expectations, which ones are being led by the Holy Spirit?

Have you asked the Holy Spirit to lead your activities for the day?

Scripture

“…For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7