WHAT DO PEOPLE THINK OF ME?
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NASB95)
Trust in the LORD with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight.

When I was younger I was greatly concerned with acceptance of the people I admired or wanted to be like. I wanted to “fit in” with the popular group.

As a young preacher, I wanted to hear people say that I did well when I spoke.

Even today in mid-life, I want to be liked and accepted by people.

It is natural for people to want approval and acceptance; but to what extent are we willing to go to gain social approval or acceptance?

If you aren’t careful you will let the wrong people determine your self image or give direction to your life. Of course you should be concerned with godly counsel, but many times we are more concerned with what people think than we are with what God thinks and wants in our life. We go where we go, do what we do, etc. because we want social acceptance, rather than considering what God desires in our life.

It is too bad that we have to be much older to realize the truth of what somebody said one time:
• at 20, we worry about what people think about us.
• at 40, we don’t care what people think about us, and
• at 60, we find out that nobody has been thinking about us!

As a pastor, most people don’t really care what I think or say. That is why I consider my ONLY authority to be the Word of God. It they reject that, they have a problem with God. I am much more concerned with what God thinks of me than I am what others think of me.
God wants your life and mine to be so different that you make a difference in the life of others.
Father God, may my life be one of obedience to You and a desire to please you by following as You direct my paths. In Jesus name, Amen.