It’s
been said that if you live for the acceptance of others, you will die
from their rejection. If your sense of self-worth is based on the
approval of others, your value is at the mercy of what others think
about you. Your identity, who you are, how you see yourself is
determined by how others see you and respond to you.
.
In our brokenness, we tend to give people a lot of power. People on the outside
control my thoughts, feelings, and my will. They own me. I don’t know
who I am, and I live in fear of failing to meet their approval and being
rejected.
–
We need to give our fear of rejection over to the
Lord. He created us and established our worth. When we let His love pour
into us, we learn to trust Him, and He will turn our fear into faith,
and we will find full acceptance in the arms of our precious Savior.
–
If you believe that you may be living for the approval of others,
evaluate the following statements and see if you identify with any of
them.
–
”I am not good enough.”
–
“I have to try harder.”
–
“I have to earn love.’
–
“I flatter people so they will like me.”
–
“I have to be perfect.”
–
“I always feel less than.”
–
“I know what I think is not important.”
–
“I know that I am not likable.”
–
“I never feel like I belong.”
–
“I don’t measure up.”
–
If you can relate to any of the above chances are that there is a deep
root of rejection driving your need for approval and acceptance from
others. Please understand that just because you have been rejected in
the past, you don’t have to walk in fear that you will be rejected again
by others. We can be so crippled by the fear of being rejected that
without realizing it we can push others away, or create situations where
we will be rejected fulfilling a self-imposed prophecy which causes us
to continue to believe lies about ourselves and feel alone and rejected.