Welcome to the Pinterest Generation

I began writing this post about four months ago. Although I was ready to post it right away, something in my heart let me know that it wasn't yet the right time. So, I waited. And now I know why... Almost three months ago, the love of my life asked me to marry him! Since that day, God has been working on my heart. I understand that planning a wedding is important. After all, weddings are a right of passage and an important tradition in our culture. But what is really important when you get engaged... Planning a wedding, or planning a marriage?

Welcome to the Pinterest generation- a time when even 12-year-old girls who have never held hands with a boy have their weddings completely planned out- right down to the $25,000 engagement ring and custom-made Vera Wang dress. Welcome to a generation with high expectations for weddings and no expectations for marriage. Welcome to a generation of Christian women that can waste hours looking up wedding colors and invitations and centerpieces, but can rarely find five minutes to open their bibles or pray for their future spouses.

This is more than just an ironic, post-church conversation. This is a topic that is begging to be addressed- and this generation of girls (both young teenagers and young adults) is headed down a rough path if it isn't addressed soon. 

Girls are being raised up in a culture where getting engaged means you begin to look forward to a wedding- not a marriage. Young ladies are so excited to get married that they’re marrying the first man who says he loves them. As a result of this trend, we are now facing an overwhelmingly large group of young, newly-wedded, lonely women. 

We have turned marriage into a “click and choose” affair. We watch videos of proposals, read articles about the sweet things other husbands have done for their wives, and pick out the most original poses for engagement photos on the internet. We have expectations for our future husbands- not based on our needs or personal relationships with them, but on comparisons to other couples. 

Instead of using the bible, which has a clear outline of what marriage should look like, we use Pinterest. Instead of trusting the wisdom of Jesus Christ and his apostles, who were led fully by the Holy Spirit, we lean on the "wisdom" of newlyweds and people we've never even met.  Without even realizing it, we've lost sight of where our dreams and hopes for the future should be coming from. Are our lives being built on the Living Word of God... or Pinterest?

Pinterest Says: Check out this $10,000 engagement ring that your broke-college-student boyfriend will never be able to afford. You need it. Who cares that you're setting yourself up for disappointment and setting your man up for failure?

The Bible Says: Be beautiful on the inside. Don't try to dress yourself up for the approval of others. Make your heart beautiful, through God, and you won't need costly attire. (1 Peter 3:3)

Pinterest Says: Dress sexy. If you've got it, show it off. Don't you want to be attractive to your man? The more skin you show, the better looking men you will attract. After all... that is the real goal here, right?

The Bible Says: Have self-control. Be modest. Your body is a beautiful gift from God. It is a gift that you will someday give to your husband. Only him. Respect him by respecting yourself. Dress in clothes that are proper for a woman who loves God with everything in her. (1 Tim. 2:9-10)

Pinterest Says: Beautiful women are everywhere. You've got to improve yourself if you want to keep up.

The Bible Says: "An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels." (Proverbs 31:10) A woman who loves the Lord and serves her husband the way she should are rare. You are a jewel.

This "Pinterest culture" is hurting more than just our relationships and our marriages. It is hurting our relationships with God.

We are living in a generation of people (including myself) who often have an "enough is never enough" complex. We have high expectations for material items and romantic partners, but low standards for Godly relationships and spiritual encounters. As Christian women, we love to have men who take our hands and pray with us- but we'd much rather them text the words "I'm praying for you", so we can screenshot it and share it with the world along with a caption about our "amazing man of God". 

Ouch.

My intention with this post isn't to criticize the young women in the church. Please understand that! To be honest, I'm 100% preaching to myself right now. My hope is that this post will serve to encourage all of us to examine our own hearts. I pray that we will all find a few moments today to take a look at where our standard of living comes from. What unrealistic expectations are we knowingly or unknowingly placing on the men in our lives? In what ways are we setting ourselves up for failure? How much more time do we spend looking at wedding dresses than praying for our future husbands?

If we fail to sacrifice our materialism and petty desires, we leave very little room for God to encounter us and truly be the king of our lives. And so, finally, we must make a decision: Are we okay with this half-hearted, half-satisfied, half-happy way of life.... or are we willing to lay down our worldly desires for a chance to live the life that the God of the universe has given to us?