So you are scrolling Instagram and you see a stream of perfect shots, perfectly edited, perfect music overlay, perfect lives, perfect relationships, perfect health, perfect backdrops, everything's perfect.

And you gradually begin to feel the weight of something

build on you, a specific kind of pressure that comes from the internal voice that says,

my life is a failure. I must be doing it all wrong. Today, we look at how to resist this pressure

you feel and how to find meaning and purpose in life and embrace

the shocking idea that God has an intentional, glorious design when he made you.

And you probably won't find it comparing your life to the images of others you see online.

We get there from this question from a young woman. Pastor John, what would you say

a young man or a young woman who feels embarrassed by biblical roles like submission in marriage

or male leadership in the church and home? I love Jesus, but I also feel a lot of pressure from

other Christians in my life to outgrow these ideas about rules.

But I see them in the Bible.

And although I see them, I don't feel them as good things.

Does that make sense?

So how can I learn to not only accept but happily embrace the goodness of being made female?

I see at least three different issues in the way she asked this question.

First, I hear the power of peer pressure.

She said, I feel a lot of pressure from other Christians in my life to

outgrow these ideas. Second, I hear the issue of the distinct roles that men and women play

according to the Bible. And third, I hear a personal, very individual, personal hesitancy to happily embrace

her own individual female personhood. So let me just say a word about each of those issues that I hope might be helpful.

The power of peer pressure is not new.

...