HAVE YOU EVER had to confront someone and they turned the
conversation around to make you into the villain? Be honest with yourself, have you ever manipulated the conversation to make another wrong and yourself the hero? When confronted, do you defend, deflect and deny? Are you a societal chameleon? How do you handle rejection or correction? Can you give out godly correction or are you afraid of hurting another’s feelings and how they will treat you? Do you consistently blame others instead of examining yourself? You might just have an approval problem.
“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.”
Galatians 1:10
Approval isn’t always about being a “Yes man”, it goes deeper than that. Approval people commonly feel insecure and rejected, not unlike myself and a host of others; but the approval seeker has to find a way to make themselves feel better by casting blame onto someone else- “YOU made me feel rejected”, is their mantra instead of dealing with their own insecurities. They manipulate others through their emotions and feelings. They are never wrong, because someone else made them feel that way. Someone else is always to blame and they appear as the innocent victim to everyone else. This need for approval ruins relationships. But not only that, the need for approval will hinder any kind of ministry calling on your life. The approval seeker will care more about what others think of them than what the Lord thinks.
“Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, You people in whose heart is My law: Do not fear the reproach of men, Nor be afraid of their insults.” Isaiah 51:7
How do you overcome this need for approval? There’s hope! Find your security in the Lord, not others. Begin searching for Scriptures that produces in you the security of the Lord and His hand of hope and help in your life. As always, take every thought captive. People will talk about you; it’s ok, let them. Rejection is synonymous with the Christian walk. Rejoice when you are rejected and despised by men for His great name. Seek to please Him. Apologize where/when necessary and own your actions. Renew your mind to His Word and seek HIS face always. Be content and set your mind that if you have to walk alone, then you will walk alone knowing He goes with the solitary runner.
“The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.” Psalms 28:7
To Learn More About Pastor Crystal please visit the Leadership Page
