Stop Performing and Rest in Who God Made You

I was having a really good conversation with one of you yesterday and I felt moved to talk about who are we actually seeking the approval of?

Think about it. How much of our day do we spend worrying about what other people think of us? Whether we're good enough, successful enough, cool enough, spiritual enough. We twist ourselves into knots trying to be what we think everyone else wants us to be. And you know what happens? We lose sight of who God actually made us to be.

Paul said it straight in Galatians 1:10, "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."

That's as clear as it gets, y'all. You can't serve God and live for everybody else's applause at the same time. It just doesn't work that way.

Here's what I want you to sit with today. God made you on purpose. Psalm 139 tells us He knit you together. He didn't make a mistake with you. He didn't accidentally give you your personality, your gifts, your story. All of that was intentional. So when you spend your energy trying to be someone you're not just to make other people comfortable, you're actually rejecting the very thing God designed.

I've been there. I've tried to be who I thought people wanted me to be and it's exhausting. But when I finally got to the place where I said, "God, your opinion is the only one that matters," that's when the peace came. That's when I could actually breathe.

Paul also said in Galatians 1:15 that God set him apart from birth and called him by His grace. Before Paul ever did anything, God had already decided who he was and what he was called to do. The same is true for you and me.

So stop performing. Stop auditioning for approval from people who are just as broken as you are. Rest in the fact that the God of the universe already looked at you and said, "That's exactly what I had in mind."

Be comfortable in who He made you to be. That's where the freedom is.

Be Nice. Grace Wins.

FMJ