Who are you seeking acceptance from?

Sweet Bee's thought of the day: Who are you seeking acceptance from?

In life we are always seeking acceptance from someone. It starts as a child when we want our parents to be proud of us, then when we get a little older, we look for it in our older siblings or relatives. In school, its the cool kids or the different clubs or the cute guy/girl. We go out of our way to make an impression on people who may not even know or care we exist. Once we get accepted we do everything in our power to maintain the front we put on to get in. We leave school and get jobs or careers that half of us don't really like to please our parents or others; the title makes us look good and we are accepted in society as a 'somebody'. Some of us are lucky enough to get drafted to teams, however in order to be accepted by our team-mates we have to put on an act and play the roll.

When are we going to stop trying to fit into the box that everyone else is trying to put us in? When are we going to start seeking approval from God or ourselves and do what we truly want to do and feel? That is the difference between a leader/boss and a follower. A follower wants and needs to fit in, where as a leader doesn't really care what the crowd is doing, they do what they think and know is right despite what others may think or feel.

Once we stop seeking approval from everyone else and start feeling good about what we are doing we ooze a confidence that others will eventually be attracted to. Not everyone is going to like us or our ideas, however we will be respected for standing our ground and doing what we do despite what others say or think. It is never easy going against the current, however the rewards make up for the fight.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is James 1:8 it reads: "...a double-minded man is unstable in all his ways". Double-minded means easily moved, undecided in the mind. Its a person that doesn't know whether they are coming or going. They go with the crowd and don't really have the confidence to do what they believe in. They are unreliable, insecure and lack faith in God or themselves. They posses qualities that are not suitable for a leader because they are always seeking approval from everyone else apart from God.

We have to be confident in who we are and surround ourselves with like-minded people or people that can help us mature and grow. Although it feels good to have a "yes man", it in no way helps us to reach our full potential. "Yes men" give us false approval and keep us from growing or bettering ourselves.

I leave you with this verse to meditate on:

Galatians 1:10 (NIV)

Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of the Lord.