What People Think Of You: To Care or Not To Care?
“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
Let me ask you one simple question: Do you care about what people think of you? If you answered “yes”, then thank you for your honesty. If you answered “no”, you need to go repent for lying, because in my opinion, I believe deep down inside, because of sin in the world, we care a whole lot about what people think of us.
It could be a boss you work for. You always think you’re doing wrong and you’re about to get fired. It could be your spouse. You think everything that you do is in vain to them and everything you do hurts y’alls relationship. Or it could be a friend that you think the world of and you care so much about what they think. It could be anything, but in Proverbs 12:18 it says, “Reckless words pierce like a sword.” So, let me ask you again…do you care about what people think of you?
Why? Seriously, though. Why do you care about what other people think?
The world today has spoken words over you saying that you have to look a certain way to be accepted. Girls have to be skinny with 6 pack abs in order to find a husband. Guys have to go to dating websites to find the one, because God isn’t going to help you. Kids in elementary school are being introduced to sex, drugs, and rock ‘n’ roll all at an early age.
The world also tells us that you have to drink, listen to rap music, and have a one night stand in order to have a good time. My question is, is when did we ever begin living to the world’s standards? If we are God’s workmanship (Ephesians 2:10), then why should we care so much about what the world thinks? Doesn’t Paul tell us in Romans 12 to be TRANSFORMED by the renewal of our….what? MINDS!?
Listen to me…. What you put in your mind, you will one day become. So, if you allow negativity to come into your mind, then your lips will continuously speak negativity, but if you read God’s Word so much to where it is all you read, and surround yourselves with people who are positive and will speak into your life, your life will be much better. I promise!
Don’t get me wrong, what people say to me matters to me. I am preaching to myself here. I care a LOT about what people think of me. OMG, Stewart! You’re a minister and don’t need to tell your flaws. Sorry, I have flaws and will not hide behind them.
So, I have come up with a list of things that has helped me in the past, that I know will be help to you:
Pray: Yes, pray. I’m not talking about praying before you go to sleep or before a meal. I am talking about getting on your face, with the door closed, fighting the devil’s that are trying to come against you and your family. I am talking about having it out with God to where you cry every tear you have and speak every ounce of anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, etc. that you have to where you cannot speak anymore. Have a knock-down-drag-out on your face. Let what people say about you drive you to your knees and allow the God who created you to speak more into your life!
Read the Bible: Read the Bible 999,999,999 times more than you do other books. If you read books by “well-known authors” more than you do the Bible, you are substituting God…and that’s wrong! Read for more than 5 minutes a day. Grab a commentary on your break at work and read a book of the Bible. Break open every word in every sentence until the Holy Spirit speaks.
Go to wise counsel: Be honest with that person about what you are dealing with. Be specific. I am 24 years old, been in the ministry for almost a year and a half now, and when I was asked the question: “what would you tell any young minister that is just starting out in the ministry?” My response was: “learn to taught. Don’t get offended when corrected.” Timothy needed Paul….Elisha needed Elijah…and the 12 Disciples need Jesus.
Journal: Proverbs says “a fool will speak his mind, but a wise man will keep his mouth shut.” You can’t complain on Social Media. It just doesn’t work. People do it for attention and will never get the right attention they need. Quit telling the whole world your problems. Write them down in a journal and years from now, open back up to your journal and read each entry that you wrote and see how God brought you out of each situation.
Will you allow someone to speak negativity in your life? Satan will remind you of your past (and yes, he will use people around you to do so) and when he does, remind Satan of his future. When the world tells you that you aren’t good enough, tell them that you are a chosen generation. When the world tells you that you will never be good enough, tell them that you are a royal priesthood. When the world tells you that you are a sinner, agree with them and then tell you are saved by grace and you are a holy nation.
You were meant for more than where you are now. People have no power over you if your God is for you! What people say about you has no effect on you, because you are a child of the King! Praise the Lord for His mercies endure forever! Remember that at the end of the day it doesn’t matter what anyone else says except God! Rebuke the world’s words and accept the words of the One who created you!
- “I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret, intricately woven in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” – Psalm 139:14-16
- “But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7
- “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him.” – Genesis 1:27
- “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” – Jeremiah 29:11
