It’s easy to go through life making decisions based on what people will think or how you feel. How will this make me look? Will this be impressive? Will this gain me more respect? Will they approve me? Will they accept me? Besides, what people say about you may either increase or decrease your beliefs about yourself. However, it shouldn’t be about you. Yes, let it not be about you but about Jesus. Take the focus off you and put it on Jesus. The scripture says, And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Colossians 3:17
Sometimes we have to play up to certain persons to stay in their favour. We have to drive this, wear this, and be seen with these people. We spend so much energy protecting the image we have created. There is nothing wrong with looking good, being successful, and carrying yourself with confidence. That is all healthy. However, it’s no longer healthy when you are driven by your image… Asking how it’s going to make you look. It will give room for unnecessary pressure!
This is what Jesus said about the Pharisees (Matthew 23:5-7), “But all their works they do to be seen by men. They make their phylacteries broad and enlarge the borders of their garments. They love the best places at feasts, the best seats in the synagogues, greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called by men, ‘Rabbi, Rabbi.’” None of those things in themselves are bad; wearing nice things, greeting in the marketplaces and having a good position. The issue was their motives… To impress people, build their egos and let people think good about them.
I like this phrase I read somewhere, “What you think about me is none of my business.” People can think anything they want. It’s a free world. But your part is to make it none of your business. You don’t have time to worry about everyone’s opinion of you. You have a destiny to fulfil. You have an assignment to accomplish. It’s not going to happen if you are image-driven and making decisions based on other people’s opinions.
The truth is that no matter how hard we try, someone is going to judge us, someone is going to talk about us, and someone is not going to like us. You can spend all your time trying to win them over, performing perfectly, doing whatever may please them, it will never be enough. It should not be about you trying to get their approval. You don’t need them to approve you; the Almighty God has already approved and validated you.
This is where Saul missed it. He started letting people’s thoughts, and how he would be accepted influence his decisions. God gave him specific instructions to wipe out all of the Amalekites. Not to spare anyone or anything; the leaders, the animals, the flocks, the supplies, but to destroy them all. He went and attacked them, and he obeyed that part, but instead of destroying everything, he spared the king, he kept the best cattle, the best sheep, and all the supplies. (1 Samuel 15:1-9)
How many of us are like Saul today? We know that God has told us to do something, and we feel that impression within us, but we still go ahead to do what the people want by trying to protect our image. Someone may not understand, they may think less of us, and they may leave us out of their circle. Saul’s attitude was, “I have to perform for my popularity, to keep my followers and my friends. I have to do what they want, impress, pretend, and show off with a big sacrifice to God. I have to keep this image of me.”
The price of being a people’s pleaser and exhibiting partial obedience caused King Saul to lose the kingdom. What could have Saul become if he had not lived to show off with sacrifice, worried about what people think, trying to impress, to perform, and having to pretend to win people over? None of that moves you forward. Be driven by God’s purpose in your life. Let it not be about you. Be more concerned about how God sees you than how people see you. He’s the one that matters.
Some people will tell you which direction to go and who you should become. They are good people, they love you but one will want you to go this way and another that way. You will hear so many voices and even get confused. You may even think that you no longer know who you are. When you are always trying to please people, you can lose who you are. When you become quiet before God and search your heart, you will know what God is leading you to do…You have to decide if you are going to be who they want you to be. Or you are going to be who God wants you to be?
LESSONS FROM SAUL AND DAVID!
When Saul was rejected as the king, Samuel chose a young man named David to be the next king. One difference between Saul and David was that David wasn’t image-driven. He didn’t spend his time worrying about what other people thought or trying to please everyone. His focus was on fulfilling his purpose. One time, the Ark of the Covenant, (a large box that represented where God lived) had been taken from the Israelites. They have been trying to get it back for months. Finally, David was able to recover it. He brought it back to Jerusalem. (1 Samuel 16:1-13)
It was a big celebration. The scripture says “David danced before the Lord with all of his might.” (2 Samuel 6:14) There was great shouting, trumpets blowing and music playing. Right in the middle of it all, there was King David dancing, celebrating, worshipping, and praising. Now, David was very respected and an influential leader. He could have thought, “I need to be more reserved, proper, and sophisticated. I can’t let these people see me show emotion and praise with all my might.
However, King David didn’t run his worship through a filter of what people would think or say. When he saw the goodness of God, even though he was the king, he didn’t hold back. What he didn’t know was that his wife, King Saul’s daughter was watching him dancing, praising, and showing all this emotion, and she was offended. She looked at him in scorn and disgust. When David got home, she let him have it. She said, “How glorious was the king of Israel today, uncovering himself today in the eyes of the maids of his servants, as one of the base fellows shamelessly uncovers himself!” (2 Samuel 6:20)
She was trying to put David in a certain mould. David said in effect, “I love you but I wasn’t dancing unto you, I was dancing unto my God. I was thanking Him for the great mercy and great favour He has shown me.” He went on to say “And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight. But as for the maidservants of whom you have spoken, by them I will be held in honour.” (2 Samuel 6:22)
Notice the difference between King Saul and King David; Saul was a people-pleaser, and David was a God-pleaser. Saul was driven by his image, and David was driven by his purpose in God. It shouldn’t be about you… Don’t be a Saul and miss your destiny, be a David. And like with David, sure, there will be people that try to put you in their box, convince you to be who they want you to be. If you are not strong, if you are focused on having people approve of you, you will live to impress them and end up letting their image of you become a reality.
In the scripture, three Hebrew teenagers refused to bow down to the king’s golden idol and he had them thrown into a furnace. (Daniel 3:14-25) The idol is described as a golden image. It was an image of King Nebuchadnezzar. It was a physical thing but I believe there is a spiritual principle about it. The teenagers refused to bow down to the image. How many of us today are bowing down to some certain image in our lives? The image we have created… What we want people to see! Or maybe it’s the image others have created in us to squeeze us into their mould? It’s time to stop bowing down to that image.
One of the reasons some people are worn out and not enjoying life is because they have this image to keep up. You have to be five different people; one for your neighbour, one for your spouse, one for your friends and so on, trying to please everyone, and keep them happy. Do yourself a favour; It shouldn’t be about you but about Jesus… Let Jesus be the focus point. Quit bowing down to that image… If you will do this, I decree and declare weights be lifted off you. You are going to live happier, joyous, more fulfilled, and become all you were created to be, in Jesus’ name.
The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”’
