Who are you doing it for?

As someone who is overcoming people pleasing tendencies, this is a question I often reflect on.

So often we are so fueled by external validation.

We are fueled by the compliments and recognition that make us feel good. We are fueled by the accolades, degrees and accomplishments that captivate people. This is not to say that these accomplishments are wrong but when external validation is the "juice" that keeps us going, then we will never be satisfied.

On the other hand, perhaps you don't receive the compliments or recognition that you so desire. External validation is lacking in your life and you begin to feel bad about yourself and even begin having thoughts that brew into jealousy, envy and bitterness. The Bible tells us in Romans 12:4-5 that "For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another." Rather than believing that we are all created beautifully and that God has a purpose for our lives, we let these thoughts fester and deem ourself as worthless.

Perhaps it all boils down to this obsession with "self" that most of us have been diagnosed with.

Obsessed with our looks, obsessed with how people perceive us, obsessed with acquiring more possessions that we feel as though will fill us up only for us to acquire them and still feel empty. Obsessed with self glorification. Obsessed. Obsessed. Obsessed. I am reminded of the verse in Matthew 16:26 that says "

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but forfeits his soul?

Friends it is not worth it to gain the world but lose your soul.

Who are you doing it for?

I ask myself this because I have fallen victim to this obsession of "self" and this lack of humility. I've done things to receive the praise of others rather than doing it genuinely, I've done things to be perceived a certain way that gives me all the glory when it wasn't even mine in the first place. This is not the kind of person I seek to be.

I encourage you to ask yourself this same question: Who am I doing it for?

It is my hope that the only one we may seek to please is the Father.

"Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving." Colossians 3:23-24