Tuesday morning my eyes opened unexpectedly at 3am… I turned to Proverbs 29 to read a little and found this in v.25, “The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.”
Fearing man…
- What will people think if I wear this?
- What will people think if I say this?
- What will people think if I befriend the person no one likes?
- What will people think if I hang out w/ someone who doesn’t know Christ?
- What will people think if I buy this or that?
- What will people think if I take a stand for whats right?
- What will people think if I try something new and fail at it?
- What will people think if I give my opinion?
- What will people think if I take a break?
- What will people think if I dont ___________?
Do you ever wonder what people will think of you? We all struggle with how we are perceived by others. But whats more important, what man thinks or what God thinks?
Your relationship with Christ is yours, not theirs… Don’t misunderstand me, God hasn’t called us to a private spiritual life, on the contrary, its to be public. And yes we are accountable to certain people God has placed over us, but the bottom line is, you’re accountable to God not them. You’re free to be yourself!
Often times pondering what people may think of you is disabling. It keeps you from being obedient to God. It keeps you from being who God uniquely created YOU to be. One of my favorite preachers, Junior Hill, said it like this… “You’re the best YOU that there will ever be.” I love that. That encourages me. It sets me free to be me! The KCV reads like this,
Fearing what people think paralyzes you; trusting in God’s approval will set you free.
If my actions are determined by what someone, or a group of people think, then really, I am a slave to what others think. That’s no way to live. The next time fear hits you in the gut at the thought of what people may say or think, just go for it, be yourself and say this out loud, “They can deal with it”.
Kevin Connell 