Stop Seeking For The Approval Of Men

Galatians 1:10 ESV

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Do you live under a burden of guilt and condemnation…feeling unrighteous, unworthy, and insecure? Are you a people-pleaser, always looking for the approval of others?

If the answer to any of these is yes, then God wants to help you move beyond those feelings, Why? Because they not only affect your personal relationships, but also your prayer life and your ability to be promoted. And I can tell you from personal experience, they certainly steal your joy and your peace—and that is not God's will for you or anyone else.

I believe there are two states that can cause us to desire the approval of people: being emotionally wounded and being caught in a pit of self-pity.

Wounds that won’t heal

Because I grew up in an environment of sexual and verbal abuse, I thought I was wounded beyond healing. Worse, I projected the personality of myearthly father onto God and was sure that, like my father, God was impossible to please.

If you have been hurt and wounded by people who were difficult to please, you may think God is the same way. He isn't! It is not as difficult to please God as we may think. Simple, childlike faith pleases Him. He already knows we will not behave perfectly all the time. That is why He sent Jesus to pay for our failures and mistakes.

God has no problem with the knowledge of what we lack; we are the ones who have problems with it. We often find it difficult to admit to ourselves or anyone else that we are anything less than perfect.

Remember, God is not surprised by your inabilities, your imperfections, or your faults. He has always known everything about you and He chose you on purpose for Himself.

Once we understand how God sees us through Christ, we can refrain from being oversensitive to what people think about us, and feeling bad about ourselves. We don't have to be addicted to their approval, because we already have God's approval!

Self-pity: The Self-curse

When we’re living to try to please others, we see our weaknesses as “curses.” They’re the things in our lives that we just can’t do anything about and will surely be our downfall in the end. It’s easy to see how this way of thinking can turn into a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The cure for this is simple: Give God not only what you are but especially give Him what you are not. It is easy to offer Him our strengths, but we should also offer Him our weaknesses because His strength is made perfect in our weaknesses.

The Apostle Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “’My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.” Don't hold anything back; give God everything

I learned that feeling guilty over my weaknesses doesn’t accomplish one single thing! I don't believe I have to add my guilt to His sacrifice. His sacrifice was complete and perfect, and no work of my flesh can improve on what He has done.

Seeking the approval of men above the approval of God. The rule is, human beings have a propensity that welcomes the praise of their fellows. While there may be exceptions, the rule is we enjoy being complimented or honored. The danger is, we can easily become intoxicated and consumed by this need, then crave the praise of men. The next step in this moral digression is, to seek human approval as a personal priority. Those exposed by the Lord in Matthew 6 were guilty of this. They did their "charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them." The same motive prompted their ostentatious praying and fasting. Among some of the leading Pharisees, there was at least intellectual confidence in the claims of Christ, but "they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God," (Jno. 12:41). Again the problem was described by our Lord when He said: "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their father to the false prophets," (Lk. 6:26). Men-pleasers seek the approval of men above the approval of God. Let us aim higher. The personal priority of every child of God must be, to seek the approval of God, regardless of how men respond to our preaching and practice. Our Father is a "rewarder of those who diligently seek Him," (Heb. 11:6).