You
Don’t Have What It Takes:
You
Can’t Please Everyone
Big Idea:
Choose to find validation
and acceptance in God rather than people.
Key Verse: Read John 3:16-17 (The Message)
This is how much God loved the world: He
gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be
destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God
didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing
finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world
right again.
The Scoop: Most of us know
intellectually that you can’t please everyone, but we still spend a lot of time
trying to please others. We derive
our self worth through the approval of others. This distracts us from our
relationship with God because it means we love praise from people more than
from God.
God is pleased with us
more often than we realize.
However, it is easy to feel the pressure of “measuring up.” God is
pleased with us but when we don’t recognize it we seek approval elsewhere. The Bible tells us that God delights in
His people. We have to remember
that our performance is not the reason he delights in us.
1.
Which one of these 4 indications of being a
people pleaser do you most often struggle with?
a.
You take criticism very personally.
b.
You have an extraordinary fear of rejection.
c.
You have a hard time expressing your true
feelings because you are afraid of hurting others feelings.
d.
You have a hard time saying no.
2.
Who in your life do you most often feel the
pressure to please? Why?
3.
Is there a time when you could sense God
being pleased with you? How did
this make you feel?
What’s Next? (take home/further processing)
Spend some intentional
prayer time right now (and then for at least 10 minutes each day this week)
focused on these two things:
• Reflect on the above verse and what it means to
“accept” that God delights in you. Thank Him for doing that, and for the times
you’ve seen/felt that.
• Think about those you feel the most pressure to
please—turn that desire over to God, and spend time praying for those people
(since praying for others often changes our attitudes towards them).
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