Today’s Post by: Rae Lynn DeAngelis
“I don’t know the secret to success, but the key to failure is to try to please everyone.” ~God’s Little Devotion Book for Leaders
Most of my life I’ve struggled with an ugly monster called insecurity—a character trait that has been a major contributor to my people-pleasing addiction.
My thought process would often go something like this: If I do ___________, people will be pleased. If people are pleased, I will gain their approval. If I gain their approval, they will accept me. If they accept me, I will find happiness.
Wrong!
This kind of thinking did not make me happy. In fact, most of the time it made me miserable.
“Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
True joy doesn’t come from what others think of me. It comes from what God thinks of me.
People are so fickle. Gauging your approval rating by another’s opinion is like riding a roller coaster without a safety harness. Our self-confidence will be rocked at every dip, twist, and turn.
We will never be able to please everyone. For this reason, we must look to please the one who truly matters –God.
“When a man’s ways are pleasing to the LORD, he makes even his enemies live at peace with him.” (Proverbs 16:7)
Because “people-pleasing” was a component of my life for so long, it is something I must constantly guard myself against. Each time I am faced with a decision, I must ask myself—am I doing this to please God, myself, or someone else? If it isn’t for the glory of God, I need to adjust my thoughts and actions to line up with what God would want me to do.
I wish that I could say I’ve mastered the desire to please others and no longer struggle with approval addiction, but in all honesty, I need God’s help to overcome this mindset each and every day. Thankfully, greater is He who is in me than who is in the world. (1 John 4:4)
“You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” (Ephesians 4:22-24)
Don’t let fickle people rule your life any longer. Join me in seeking after the constant, unchangeable, unmovable God.
