“Most of the trouble in the world is caused by people wanting to be important.”
T.S. Eliot
We all seek to be a positive influence on others. But motivations matter. Often as we seek fame or praise, we lose goodness, we shift our focus from others to ourselves. In this shifting we will compromise morality for power, we will justify sacrificing others for our benefit. We use our short time on earth in shallow ways. This painting of Lady Macbeth reminds us of the ways our powerful feminine nature can be twisted by self-interest. What a force for good she might have been! But she choose to seek importance and twisted her own potential.
“I would rather be what God chose to make me than the most glorious creature that I could think of; for to have been thought about, born in God’s thought, and then made by God, is the dearest, grandest and most precious thing in all thinking.”
George MacDonald
As our world becomes secular we are making ourselves into our own God. But a world of little gods, worshiping themselves, becomes a dark place. Our followers on our Instagram may grow, but our sense of worth will not. We are made for a much more glorious purpose than self-worship. Our children need a mother that seeks to discover the precious purposes He has for her and accomplishes them. A woman who uses her passions and talents to bless the lives of others – in unseen or visible ways – is truly glorious.
So when we stop and introspect about our daily motivations, I hope we can honestly ask ourselves – “Am I doing this to be important and admired, or am I doing this so I can be God’s hands?”
The Philosophy of Motherhood 