Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? Galatians 1:10
We’ve been on a series about joy, and how we as believers can draw from the joy that’s in us by deciding to be joyful and by spending time in God’s presence.
At the same time, there are several things that can stop us from experiencing that joy—lies about who we are. We need to challenge these misbeliefs.
For example, if the approval of certain people becomes too important to us, we may have trouble experiencing joy.
It could be your father, mother, your boss, a friend, or someone else you just can’t seem to make happy. If you concentrate on this unhappy person too much, it’ll bring you misery.
When I preach to a congregation, I can see the expression on everyone’s faces. For the most part, people are engaged in what I’m saying. But there’s always at least one person who looks unimpressed, no matter how much I preach my heart out.
I could spend the entire service trying to get this one person to crack a smile, and I used to try to do that. The trouble was it caused me to lose enjoyment in what I was doing. Finally, I realized that there will always be people I can’t impress. Why focus on them?
Who is it in your life that you can’t seem to impress, no matter how hard you try? Your parent? A friend you went to school with that you just can’t quite outmatch? Get your eyes off them. Look to God instead for what he thinks of you, because he loves you just as you are!