Approval Addiction

I will be the first to admit it...I hate to let people down. For me, one of the worst things is knowing that I fell short of what someone was wanting, expecting or desiring me to deliver. There are people in life who could care less. There are others who love the conflict. Not me. Yet even though these emotions are very real, I have been learning some important truths over the years. Here is one that has helped me:

If we make it our aim to please everyone, we will please no one. (including the most important one we should be seeking approval from: Jesus)

If we make it our aim to live a life that is fully pleasing to Him, that is what matters most! Now I am not saying that we should be hard hearted and not be teachable. Problems arise when we want to make every person happy...which if we are honest with our selves, will never happen.

Think about what Jesus told us was the Greatest Command: Love God and Love People. If we get these things mixed up, we can get ourselves into a cycle where getting peoples approval becomes more important to us than hearing Jesus say, "Well done, good and faithful servant."

The idea should not be, "Well, I don't really care about people...I just listen to Jesus." Listen to God, honor Him, love people - but don't make your ONLY AIM in life to win the applause of everyone.