Your Father Knows
Hi…I’m Mike and I’m an ‘approvaholic!' I think I just made up a word, but hopefully you get what I am saying. For most of my life I have sought and desired the approval of others. I don’t think I am alone in the desire to get others’ approval...
Hi…I’m Mike and I’m an ‘approvaholic!'
I think I just made up a word, but hopefully you get what I am saying. For most of my life I have sought and desired the approval of others.
I don’t think I am alone in the desire to get others’ approval. In fact, I think a lot of people these days struggle with seeking the approval of others! How many times do we post on social media to be noticed or to get “likes"? I once heard someone say they read their Bible and books to see what they could post or tweet! How many blog writers add a “tweet” that's just one click away for you to promote their content? How many times do we think, “did anyone notice?”
Jesus confronted this when He told us to not do things in front of others to be applauded by them, or to be seen by them, or to be heard by them.
Jesus provided the solution to this approval issue when He simply said, “your Father knows” (Matthew 6:1-18). Our Father sees and isn’t that enough? Aren’t we suppose to only seek His approval? (Galatians 1:10) Jesus said that if we want and pursue the approval of others then we will get our reward, which will be just that - a very small temporary sense of pride. But if we seek to please our Father in Heaven, then He, who sees in secret, will reward us in secret, and His reward will always be more than what any person could ever give us.
I’ve learned a lot about my identity and who I am in Christ, but the struggle is always there. I still find myself wanting to be noticed, praised, and sometimes if I am honest, I will do things for the wrong reward…the praise and approval of men vs. the praise and approval of my Lord! The truth is, He already approves of me! I am His boy, and He loves His boy. There is nothing that I can do to make Him love me more or less. The same is true for you!
Your Father knows…and He approves!
To learn more about your identity in Christ,
check out "What Does God Say About Us?"
What Does God Say About Us?
Have you ever put thought bubbles on someone else’s head? Maybe you were talking to someone, and you hear what they are saying, but the whole time you are thinking, "Is that really what they are saying?"...
Have you ever put thought bubbles on someone else’s head?
Maybe you were talking to someone, and you hear what they are saying, but the whole time you are thinking, "Is that really what they are saying?"
The pressure to want to please everyone around us is real and natural.
I hope that everyone I meet likes me. But the reality is when you spend your life focused on making sure everyone you meet is impressed by you, you can easily become a slave to what they think. Eventually it can progress so much that you are no longer a slave to what they think, but what you think they think. Often we are consumed not by what others actually say out loud, but what we think they are saying in their heads. When we get to that point, we are our own worst enemy.
No longer are we controlled by their thoughts, which is bad enough, but we are now controlled by our own false thoughts in our heads that have no ground to them. And all this starts with the innocent and natural thought of caring what people think about you.
If any of the above has ever happened to you, then you know what it's like to spend nights wondering what so and so really meant when they said what they said. How do we break free from this? Because if it's not stopped, we can easily trap ourselves in a place where we no longer do anything because of fear of what we actually don't know.
I believe to beat this we have to remember what God says about us.
I want to leave you with a few statements, that if you can remember and believe, have the power to set take your focus off what others may be thinking and back on what God has been thinking about you all along.
I am the Creator and you are my creation. I breathed into your nostrils the breath of life (Genesis 2:7). I created you in my own image (Genesis 1:27). My eyes saw your unformed substance (Psalm 139:16). I knit you together in your mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13). I know the number of hairs on your head, and before a word is on your tongue I know it (Matthew 10:30; Psalm 139:4). You are fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).
In My great love, I gave My unique Son, that all those who believe in him will not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16). While you were still sinners, Christ died for you. While you were still hostile toward Me, you were reconciled to Me by the death of My Son (Romans 5:8, 10). Sin doesn’t have the last word. Grace does (Romans 5:20).