Are you a Doormat?

by Yvette van Niekerk

Galatians 1: 10 Berean Study Bible "Am I now seeking the approval of men or God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ."

Are you striving to please men, as Paul wrote to the Galatians? Or are you striving to live according to God's Word and be a God-Pleaser? Someone who chooses to be a person God created us to be - unique and different than most people; constant criticism is coming your way because of your peculiarity.

It seems I have been going upstream my entire life, never going along with the rest of the crowd. I want to be different and be something God created me to be. I never knew my self-worth, and people could manipulate me to do things as they pleased, I was a people-pleaser. I was concerned that I didn’t make good decisions and people would think I was stupid. I wanted the approval of people constantly at any cost.  Proverbs remind us that the fear of people is a dangerous trap (Proverbs 29: 25 NTL). I ended constantly feeling disappointed with myself.

King Saul was a people-pleaser let’s see what 1 Samuel 15 verse 24 Saul Pleads for Forgiveness Then Saul admitted to Samuel, “Yes, I have sinned. I have disobeyed your instructions and the LORD’s command, for I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded. But now, please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may worship the LORD.” The Apostle Paul wrote that “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.”

I believe that I wanted to be loving, considerate, and patient and then I allowed myself to be intimidated and manipulated by allowing people to manoeuvre me. I yielded to fear of others allowing them to be my boss.

2 Timothy 1 verse 7 says “God has not given us a spirit of timidity but of power.” I took my stand in the LORD, holding onto His Word, and taking my chances with God.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, please help me, I do not want to be a servant to people out of fear but because I love them. I also want to pray give me the strength to stand up and be You, servant. Not fearing people. In the Name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen.

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