I haven't blogged in a while, yet again. Partly due to the craziness that is called SCHOOL and partly because I have had a million different thoughts in my head and haven't been able to sit down and sort through them long enough to post something coherent.
How do I stop caring what people think?
How do I stop placing so much weight in the opinions/feelings of other people?
(fyi - those don't have to be rhetorical questions. I'd love some feedback.)
I thought of those questions just a few minutes ago as I drove home from hanging out with a big group of friends at uswirl (frozen yogurt) after church. I have, unfortunately, recognized lately how much weight I put in what other people think of me. I highly value the opinion of other people. I just want to be acknowledged and affirmed, which to an extent is a part of how God made me to receive love. The problem is that I'm looking for that mostly in the people around me and NOT in the Lord. I can tell myself the truth, but then time after time I find myself vying for the approval of someone else.
Now I'm at the point where I've had enough. I KNOW truth, so I will not allow myself to live in lies. I will not allow the enemy to steal my joy and my confidence!
If someone else were to come to me with this same issue, what would I tell him/her? The Word - immerse yourself in scripture and be filled up with truth. Take your thoughts captive - don't dwell on what you know is not true. (Phil 4:8 "Whatever is true [...] think about such things.") Get some accountability - ask someone to help you and speak truth to you when you're struggling. These are all good things, but is there something I'm missing?!
Well, this is clearly one of the posts that I'm writing in the midst of the struggle rather than with the insight gained from working through the struggle. :) It probably doesn't help that I am a highly analytical person and very self-aware... so if something is a little "off," I try to pick it apart to get at the root of the issue. Mostly, this issue is a matter of where I place my trust - in the people around me or in God. I'm just trying to figure out what it looks like for me to be fully surrendered to the Lord and not base my value/life/emotions, off of what I think other people think.
Romans 12:2
"Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Romans 8:5-6
"Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. [...] the mind controlled by Spirit is LIFE and PEACE."
Isaiah 26:3-4
"You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trust in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal."
Waking up every morning and letting the first thing you do be to get in the WORD. Feeding your soul. It is not enough just to know truth, you must abide in it. [abide: to live] Where you live is your home and when you are home you eat, rest, clean yourself, etc :] This is what the WORD is for us as Christians.
ReplyDeleteWhen the first thing you do in your day is get in the Word, then you are prepared to face the many trials of the day.
Be encouraged Kailene!
We all struggle with this but the revelation of what I just shared with you is refreshing me more and more and I am realizing how important it is to just feed my soul every morning, just as I feed my body.
Wow. God JUST rocked me about this same issue. I don't have a solution unfortunately other than staying constantly in His presence and trusting Him fully.
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