Are You a People Pleaser?

Are you a people pleaser? You might think of yourself as a peacemaker, always trying to maintain the status quo and avoid conflict so that no one leaves your presence with their feathers ruffled. That doesn’t sound like a bad think to be, does it? However, when you get into the habit of placing everyone else’s comfort level far above your own, problems can ensue.

For instance, if you haven’t learned how to speak your truth, how can you be sure that others are being honest with you? If you can’t give a sincere “No” out of concern for hurting someone’s feelings, how can anyone be comfortable with the “Yes” you utter? All of your responses become questionable and so do those of the people you surround yourself with.

While it’s nice to be concerned with the feelings of others, if you continually worry about earning their approval, you’ll exhaust yourself and have little enjoyment for yourself. You see, it’s impossible to please all of the people all of the time. If there are ten people in a room, human nature causes us to forget the nine who compliment us and focus on the one who complains.

Our perception of our self-worth is tied up in the validation of those who aren’t even happy with themselves. What sense does that make? We give up our power to those who have none over their own circumstances.

The only opinion that should matter is that of the One Who made us and gave His life for us. No greater love has ever been expressed; no greater love has ever existed. People may hurt us for a moment but those hurts can’t last for eternity. God holds our destiny in the palm of His hand. Shouldn’t pleasing Him matter more than worrying about the opinions of others? Consider the eternal, not the fleeting. You’ll rest easier.