WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU ?
925 Words
Are you overly concerned about what others think of you?
please read, Prov 29:25 "It is a dangerous trap to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe."
How do we escape this trap?
First, understand that we all do need approval...
There is nothing wrong with wanting to please your parents...your husband or your wife etc,
The problem comes in when we desire to please the wrong people...or please people for the wrong reasons
You need an amount of approval in your life.
The 8 year old elementary school student who feels no need to please their parents or their teachers at school, is a criminal in the making
The individual who does not care at all about pleasing anybody else but themselves, is a narcissist
The individual who has absolutely zero interest in the approval of other people at all is a sociopath in the making
Conclusion: There is nothing wrong with wanting and desiring the approval from the right people for the right reasons.
But, like all the other good things God has given us, pleasing people can become a sin.
This is true for almost anything and everything else, for example;
We need healthy food...but food can be misused, no matter how healthy it is
We need medicine...but it can be misused
Now, back to the point...
Why trying to please everyone is a trap:
Here are a few reasons to fight against the need to please others instead of always first pleasing God...
1. The 'people pleaser' will always miss God’s purpose for their life
Think about this for a moment...
You cannot be worried about what everybody else wants you to be...and focus on what God created you to be...at the same time.
If you are always attempting to meet somebody else’s purpose for your time...then you will miss God’s purpose for your life.
1 Thess 2:4 "For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts."
2. The 'people pleaser' will NOT grow in his faith
Let's define faith this way...
Faith is:
Holding God’s view as superior to any other view
Holding God’s perspectives as more important than any other perspective
Then think of this for a minute:
When God’s perspective is elevated in your life, it follows that the perspective of your critic would be diminished at the same time.
On the flip side...
When you allow people’s perspectives and opinions of you to be elevated in your view...then God’s perspectives of you would naturally be diminished to you.
Conclusion: We diminish the importance of God’s view and purpose for our lives when we place an unhealthy importance on how other people see us and think of us.
As a matter of fact...when we are pursuing after the approval of others above the approval of God...we are in fact living for them...and not for God.
John 5:44 "You try to get praise from each other, but you do not try to get the praise that comes from the only God. So how can you believe?" NCV
This verse makes it plain and clear...
Your faith is crippled by your “people-pleasing” mentality.
4. Becoming a 'people pleaser' silences your witness
John 7:12-13 Within the large crowd there, many people were whispering to each other about Jesus. Some said, “He is a good man.” Others said, “No, he fools the people.” 13 But no one was brave enough to talk about Jesus openly, because they were afraid of the elders.
John 12:42-43 "Many rulers believed in Jesus. However, they wouldn’t admit it publicly because the Pharisees would have thrown them out of the synagogue. 43 They were more concerned about what people thought of them than about what God thought of them. GWT
Ask yourself this question and then answer it with all honesty;
Who in your life would have heard about Jesus...if fear was not your problem?
Truths to remember...
1. Even God can’t please everybody
Right now...there are people praying and asking God for rain, others praying for snow.
Right now there are two groups of people...praying and asking God for two opposing football teams to win the football game.
Only a fool will try to do what God can’t do.
Luke 6:26 “How terrible when everyone says only good things about you, because their ancestors said the same things about the false prophets.
2. I don’t need everyone’s approval to be content
Not only can’t you get it...but you don’t need it.
You can’t please everybody and God doesn’t expect you to please everybody.
You don’t need everybody’s approval to be content.
It was Jesus who said; "“I do not receive honor from men." [John 5:41]
There is no such thing as a people pleaser who is also a God pleaser.
There is no such thing as a people pleaser who is also free to be who God has called him to be.
I hope and pray you remain free from this trap of needing to be approved of, affirmed and celebrated by everyone all the time.
You are ultimately called to live before the audience of One, meaning you are called to please your heavenly Father.
Acts 5:29 "But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.
God bless you.
your in Christ
Ps. Samananda Maibam
- Writer
