Other Peoples Expectations

Today I thought I would take a moment to write about something that was a struggle for me as a PK and sometimes as a Pastor's wife.

As a child, I felt that I had to live with the constant watchful eye of other people in the church who expected me to live up to their expectations of how a preachers kid should act.
Thankfully, I had parents that were not afraid to stand for me when it was needed.
Then I married a preacher, yes I did this knowing what I was getting in to. I then realized that in the church people expect the pastor's wife to do certain things, or have certain abilities that she may not have. So is the struggle of wondering if you are called to do this or not because we just can not live up to other people's expectations of us.

So what is the solution to this conundrum. Well, I have learned over the years that a good sense of humor and tactful honesty can go a long way. I also learned from the scriptures how I am to live my life. These I will share with you now.

Paul shared in I Corinthians 10 that his authority came only from Christ and no other.
In Vs. 12- he says "We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise." Now ladies, I have been praying for years for the Lord to please help me to be wise in all that I do. So in this case, we as pastor's wives, are not to compare ourselves to others, we are not to worry about "their expectations" we are only to compare ourselves to a holy God.
Of course, we do not measure up to him and frankly neither do the ones in the church that expect us to live up to "their expectations". You see, once I realized that I only need serve where the Lord has truly gifted me to serve and when I realized that I was ultimately only responsible to my Lord. This was a freeing moment for me. I found that when other's were not so pleased with how I acted or reacted then I had to say "ok, did I act out of selfish flesh?" If the answer was yes, then I had a responsibility to make it right. But, if the person was critical because I somehow did not measure up to "their expectations" and I knew before God that I had acted as I should before the Lord, then I listen and say "ok" but I let it roll off my back because I know that I have done as I should before God and he is the one I am to answer to for my actions.

All I can say is just be sure that you are living your life as God would have you to live it and when misunderstandings come and they will. Correct what needs to be corrected and the rest just leave it in the Lord's hands because He knows the heart.