When others reject us for merely being ourselves, our self worth and esteem becomes so deeply bruised it crushes us.
That feeling of not being good enough or never measuring up can be so demeaning and heart-breaking.
As I write this, I am reminded of the Pretty Woman moment, where "Vivian" is shopping and the ladies reject her because of how she looks. They are beyond rude and snotty to her as if their poop doesn't stink just because they "appear" to be better.
Appearances aren't everything though.
Surely some of the prettiest people can have the ugliest hearts.
So, Julia Roberts or "Vivian" goes shopping with her sugar daddy & gets this whole new look & major confidence booster. With her new lease on life she walks in to the exact store she was in the day before, she reminds the ladies she was there earlier and is able to go on to say my favorite line in the entire movie!
"BIG mistake, BIG mistake, HUGE!" (at 3:20min)
Oh how I'd love the opportunity at times to tell someone they made a big mistake when they have rejected my family or me! How I'd love to show someone who I really am. To prove haters wrong. To say "You made a huge mistake" or "you were wrong about me". Or to make it known that "dissing me was the stupidest move one has ever made".
Perhaps someone has made you feel less than. Maybe you have been told you aren't good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, fast enough, skinny enough, mature enough, wise enough, etc. Maybe you have been wrongly labeled or pegged something you are not. Or people have narrowed in on only one of your traits and made that all you are about when you are about so much more. Maybe you have felt like you can't do anything right. Maybe people use your past against you, causing you to feel like you can't move on. Maybe you continuously feel rejected or like an outcast.
BUT...
It doesn't matter what people think.
If we are so concerned with the opinion of man, then the base of our self worth has been seriously misguided and is in need of some major redirecting. It's time to live for an audience of one. The One. The only One who matters.
If what you are doing, what you say, how you do it or how you say it, is pleasing to God, then nothing else matters and we can trust Him to have our back. We can trust God to allow all else to fall in to place.
People are going to disappoint us our entire lives. (insert debbie downer music here) People will let you down, because that is man's nature. God is fair. God is just. God doesn't disappoint. Whether you always agree with Him or not. Understand His ways or not. He is good. He is full of favor for those who love him & live for Him. Life is not fair, but God is. Circumstances are not fair, but God is. People are not fair, but God is.
Seek to please God first & foremost and you will be amazed at your new found confidence. Live for an audience of One rather than trying to please everyone on earth.
When we run around trying to appease man we resemble chickens running with their heads cut off. It's impossible. Just as people will let us down, we are going to have our moments as well. We will let others down. But we are to not live for the approval of man. Unless we enjoy the cycle of letting people down & being let down...over, and over, and over again.
Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. NIV
Do you think I speak this strongly in order to manipulate crowds? Or curry favor with God? Or get popular applause? If my goal was popularity, I wouldn't bother being Christ's slave. MSG
Do you think I am trying to make people accept me? No, God is the One I am trying to please. Am I trying to please people? If I still wanted to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. NCV
For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. KJV
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. NLT
Needed this today....Thank you.
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