When You're Feeling Pressured To Please Everyone
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. - Galatians 1:10
Today’s key verse is one that I’ve begun to memorize rather recently, because people-pleasing is a HUGE struggle for me. And if I’m being really honest, that struggle has felt intensified over the last few months.
The pressure I’ve been feeling to please everyone and gain everyone’s approval has felt abnormally high, and I can feel that pressure weighing on my heart.
Do you know the feeling I’m talking about? Do you struggle with everyone wanting to be happy with you at all times? Do you fight the temptation to need everyone’s approval for the decisions you make and the life you live? Do you find yourself bending over backwards to please everyone else but exhausting yourself in the process?
If you answered yes to any of those questions, then trust me, you’re not alone. People-pleasing is a tough thing to deal with, but it’s not something that can’t be overcome with the help of the Holy Spirit and the truth-filled reminders we can pull from God’s Word.
I want you to remember something. Our only job as followers of Christ is to live our lives in a way that is obedient to Him and, in doing so, become more like Jesus. We are not responsible for pleasing or appeasing the people around us. As my dad always told me growing up, when you get to heaven, the only person you’re going to be accountable to is the Lord. No one else’s opinions of you, your choices, or your priorities is going to matter in eternity. If you’re being obedient to what the Lord is leading you to do, that’s all you need to focus on. Period.
So if you’re like me and you’re feeling overwhelmed by the pressure to please others, I gathered up a few verses that are sure to help and encourage you. My hope is that you’ll take some time today and meditate on these passages of Scripture, maybe even beginning committing one or two of them to memory. And as you fill your mind and your heart with the truth of God’s Word, may you be filled with peace and confidence that He is the one you’re living to please.
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. - Galatians 1:10
Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. - Romans 12:2
But just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. - 1 Thessalonians 2:4
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men. - Colossians 3:23
The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe. - Proverbs 29:25