Do You Care What Other People Think?

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

One of the traditions my friends and I had when we were in middle school and high school is that we would all go to Six Flags at the end of every school year to kick off the summer. Of all the memories I made during this yearly tradition, one in particular from my seventh grade year sticks out. 

I had never been a huge fan of roller coasters ever since I had decided to ride the Scream Machine when I was 10 and practically burst my dad’s ear drums as I screamed throughout the entire ride. That was the longest 90 seconds of my life.

But fast forward to when I was 13, I thought I was ready to brave a different coaster, Batman’s ride to be exact. So I waited in line for almost an hour, my friends and my mom with me, until it was finally my turn. I stepped onto the platform, pulled the harness down over my torso, and immediately was bombarded with regret.

I had to get off this ride, and I had to get off NOW. So what did I do? I began yelling at the bored-looking college student working the ride to unhitch my harness. “Sir! Sir! I want to get off!” My mom and my friends begged me to stay on, but I wasn’t having it. I finally convinced the attendant to let me off, and I walked to the other side of the platform, relieved. 

For what remained of the school year, my friends and my classmates, who had now heard the story of my chickening out, poked fun at me for being too scared to ride. You know how middle schoolers are. But despite their teasing, I didn’t care what anyone thought. I didn’t want to ride the roller coaster. I was confident in that decision, and I let the teasing continue. 

I think back to this memory now, and I’m honestly pretty proud of 13-year-old Kristen. But then I also think, “If I didn’t care what people thought of me then, why do I care so much about what they think now?”

We’re all constantly tempted to place more value on what other people think than we should. We care what other people think about what we wear, who we hang out with, where we work, where we go to church, and how we spend our time. But appeasing the opinions of others should never be the motivation behind our decision making. Instead, every choice we make should be in accordance with God’s Word and His will for our lives. 

When we get to heaven one day, we’re not going to be accountable to our parents, our grandparents, our friends, our coworkers, or our neighbors. We’re going to be accountable to God and God alone. It won’t matter what these other people thought of the way you lived your life. All that will matter is that you lived your life in obedience to Christ, honored Him with your decision-making, and walked in a manner worthy of the calling you received from God. 

My prayer is that moving forward, you won’t be so bogged down and overwhelmed by the thoughts and opinions of others, but instead you will keep your eyes on Jesus, following the path He lays out for you, rather than the path others are saying you should take.