When you’re always worried about what other people think of you, you can’t be what God wants you to be. But, when you learn to think like Jesus, you won’t worry about pleasing everyone. Jesus had the right focus. He was only concerned with pleasing God.
Jesus was never manipulated by crowds or by the approval or the disapproval of anybody else. He lived for an audience of one: “I try to please the One who sent me” (John 5:30 NCV). When you have the mind of Christ, that's what you do.
Wouldn't it simplify your life to live for an audience of one? If God likes what you’re doing, then you know you’re doing the right thing.
God says in Matthew 3:17, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased” (NIV). Jesus was obviously doing it right.
The truth is, you can't please everybody. Even God can't please everybody! When someone prays for it to be sunny, somebody else is praying for it to rain. Somebody is praying for their team to do well, and someone else wants the opposing team to win. You can't please everybody.
Luke 16:13 says, “No one can serve two masters” (NIV).
You have to decide whose approval you’re going to seek—God's approval or other people’s approval. Are you going to live for what other people think or what God thinks?
When you're always looking for validation from other people, it means you don't really realize who you are. You don’t understand what God made you to do or believe that he is always with you.
Jesus never let someone else’s approval or a fear of rejection control him. He wasn’t out to win a popularity contest. He didn't need other people’s opinions to validate himself.
When you have the mind of Christ, you will be so secure in your identity, your purpose, and God's presence in your life that you won't need to look to other people for approval.
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In God’s Answers to Life’s Difficult Questions, Pastor Rick Warren takes you to the Bible to find practical, life-changing guidance for some of life’s biggest struggles.
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