I looked around my house today in an utter panic.

“Where did all this come from?” I thought, looking at toys, blankets and fruit snacks that were scattered all across the living room floor. (There may have been a few Doritos in the mix as well.) It seemed to all dawn on me at once: “Your house is a mess!” the piles and general chaos announced.

This weekend, we’d taken the opportunity to visit the local children’s museum and go out on the town a bit … and it definitely showed.

“How on earth does everyone keep up?” I often find myself wondering.

In my head, everyone else’s house is clean, their laundry is folded and put away and there are never any dishes in the sink. Their floors are spotless and their kids’ shirts are always dirt-free.

That, however, is not the reality I live in, and I noticed it abundantly today.

I think the idea that everyone else is living their best lives every minute has pervaded every facet of our lives — not just parents. We all look at our friends’ Instagram accounts and imagine the unending bliss, success and cleanliness that must flow like milk and honey through their lives.

However, that’s not really true. No one takes pictures of the days their sinks are full, their laundry baskets are overflowing and they are at their limits. They don’t share Instagram posts of the days they are at their wits end and they just can’t keep up.

Those real-life moments aren’t what make it on their Facebook timeline.

Similarly, the world’s view of Christians can be the same. People assume if you’re a Christian, you must be perfect. You must never slip up, and you couldn’t possibly have things that stress you out, any addictions or any problems whatsoever.

This is just as untrue as the social media “reality” we are presented. Christians struggle. Christians “backslide.” Christians have stress and anxiety and issues just like anyone else. Christians also sin.

The key here is the fact that Christians have their faith in Christ — the cleansing, hope-filled salvation and an always open communication line with God to help them keep going. Does that make our lives easy and completely free of stress and other issues? No, but we can take comfort in the Lord and the fact that he has overcome the world.

Without Jesus — we cannot “keep up” our lives any better than anyone else.

There is a song by Casting Crowns titled “Nobody,” that really brings home the true nature of what it means to be a Christian for me. The chorus begins with the line “I’m just a nobody trying to tell everybody all about somebody who saved my soul.”

Christians are not a glamorized, ultra-righteous people who got to be Christians because they are perfect. Rather, God blessed us and chose us to become his children out of his grace and mercy — not our virtue or works. In Romans 5:8, Paul reminds us “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Let us not forget to share the message with others that the free gift of salvation wasn’t given to us because we were perfect — but it was given to us because we were sorely in need of saving. Perhaps when everyone else sees we’re not keeping up either, the real conversations will begin.