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"For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ."
(Galatians 1:10, CSB)
As a youth pastor/student pastor/youth minister, whatever you want to call it these days, there are lots of moments that I am in front of the students in a public setting talking, giving instructions, or doing something in front of them. When I am in front of them, I battle some thoughts:
- What do they think of me?
- What do they think of what I am wearing?
- What do they think of what I am saying?
- What do they think of this Wednesday night service?
- What do they think of my joke?
As I type this devotional, I realize how crazy it is for me to care about what 12-18 year-olds think of me. I am a 32 year-old man with a wife and two kids; why would I care about what they think of me? Simply put: the Approval of Man. You see, the approval of man can get followers of Jesus to think and do some pretty crazy, dumb, and sinful things. In those moments where we allow what our fellow human beings think about us to dictate our actions, we choose to be slaves to the approval of others!
What about you? How are you with the approval of man?
Do you care what people think about you, or are you always 100% you and don't care what people say about you, think about you, or perceive about you? The approval of man can make me feel insecure, unsure, and small. If you are like me in this regard, I have good news: there is a far better alternative: the approval of God.
When we feel like we are in the trap of the approval of man, we must remember that as followers of Jesus, we are approved by God. There is just no contest between man's approval and God's approval. Being approved by God (the Creator of the universe, the omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient One) is way better than being approved by God's created beings: mankind. Think about that last part of the previous sentence, "approved by God's created beings." Why would we choose to elevate what created beings think over what our Creator thinks of us? When we understand God's approval versus man's approval in the appropriate context, there is no comparison!
So, follower of Jesus, when you get worried about what man thinks of you and you begin to walk in the approval of man, remember that God approves you because of your relationship with Jesus. Remember that God paid a high price for your approval, and that price was His Son's death, burial, and resurrection!
Follower of Jesus, don't fall into the trap of man's approval.
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