I have an adorable Boston Terrier puppy that is 9 months old. I love this dog, named Buddy. So it was a no brainer when a local Christian radio station held the “WPER Perfect Pet” contest, that I’d enter Buddy. They had 600 entrants, and Buddy made it to the top 125! Then came voting by the public. Week One Buddy made it to the Top 50! Week Two Buddy made it to the Top 25! Next came the Top 10 - - but Buddy didn’t make it. He came in 12th out of nearly 600 entrants. I was happy, but a little disappointed. He isn’t the perfect pet?
But I got to thinking, what makes a “top dog.” A hedgehog and a goat, to name a few, beat out Buddy. A goat?! That goat isn’t necessarily a more “perfect pet” than Buddy – he just got more votes. But how often in life do we base our worth on others “votes?”
I remember when I was competing to be the Official Ambassador for Easter Seals in 2002. I competed against 15 other Junior Club candidates. We went through months of interviews, contests and culminated with a charity ball. I remember having the self-confidence to tell my husband, “If I don’t win, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t the best person for the position, it just means THEY don’t think I’m the best person for the position.”
But I got to thinking, what makes a “top dog.” A hedgehog and a goat, to name a few, beat out Buddy. A goat?! That goat isn’t necessarily a more “perfect pet” than Buddy – he just got more votes. But how often in life do we base our worth on others “votes?”
I remember when I was competing to be the Official Ambassador for Easter Seals in 2002. I competed against 15 other Junior Club candidates. We went through months of interviews, contests and culminated with a charity ball. I remember having the self-confidence to tell my husband, “If I don’t win, it doesn’t mean I wasn’t the best person for the position, it just means THEY don’t think I’m the best person for the position.”
I won! Well that was the hardest job I ever did and many times I wondered why I had competed for it! And I remember thinking, “Just because I thought I was the best person for the position, didn’t mean I was!” And so it goes.
Our self worth is often tied up not only in others opinions, but also in our accomplishments. And the fact is, none of that makes our worth. We are worthy, simply because we are children of God. Psalms 139:14 says, “I praise you {God} because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” We are wonderful, not because of anything we have done, but because all of God's works are wonderful, everything he has made, including us!
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” No matter how “good” we try to be, no matter how many votes we get (or don’t get!), we are God’s children and that is where we find our worth.
Although Buddy wasn’t judged to be the “Perfect Pet” by the voting public, that doesn’t mean he’s not the perfect pet to me. (But I still could have used that $1,000 prize!)
Our self worth is often tied up not only in others opinions, but also in our accomplishments. And the fact is, none of that makes our worth. We are worthy, simply because we are children of God. Psalms 139:14 says, “I praise you {God} because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.” We are wonderful, not because of anything we have done, but because all of God's works are wonderful, everything he has made, including us!
Ephesians 2:8-9 – “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.” No matter how “good” we try to be, no matter how many votes we get (or don’t get!), we are God’s children and that is where we find our worth.
Although Buddy wasn’t judged to be the “Perfect Pet” by the voting public, that doesn’t mean he’s not the perfect pet to me. (But I still could have used that $1,000 prize!)
** If you'd like to see the Top 10 finalists, you can visit http://www.wper.org/html/pet_finalists10.html **
2 comments:
He is a cutie!
Have a great night ~
Jen
Amen, Sister! I need to hear this message over and over and over again on a regular basis because it's so easy to get caught up in the comparison game.
By the way, I think Buddy looks adorable!
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