TODAY’S SCRIPTURE 9/13/14 If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NRS) OVERCOMING THE OPINIONS OF OTHERS When Jesus spoke, He was free from the NEED to create an impression. That means He was FREE to speak the TRUTH in love. Are you? Sociologist George Herbert Mead wrote about what he called the generalized other. Think of it as a kind of mental JURY BOX containing all the people who RATE us, like so many judges EVALUATING a performer. Almost certainly our PARENTS and PARTNERS are in that box. Our PEER group too. Plus our boss, co-workers, neighbors etc. It gets pretty CROWDED in that jury box. Of course, you never really KNOW for sure what anybodys actually THINKING about you. The irony of the generalized other is that it is not REALLY other at all- it is what we THINK others are THINKING. When we are young we LIVE to PLEASE other people. When we are in MIDDLE AGE we get TIRED of trying to PLEASE OTHERS and get miffed at them for MAKING us worry about it. When we are OLDER and WISER we realize that most of the time - OTHERS werent THINKING about us at all! When our identity is WRAPPED up in other peoples acceptance, we set ourselves up for approval ADDICTION. Our sense of SELF and WORTH is always on the LINE. APPLICATION That is NOT how God wants us to LIVE! No ones approval can AFFECT us - unless we grant it CREDIBILITY and STATUS! The same holds TRUE for their DISAPPROVAL! That is why Paul writes, Am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would NOT be a SERVANT of Christ (Galatians l:10 NRS). –TWFYT— Have a Wonderfully Blessed Sabbath Day!!!! JM
Posted on: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 12:10:00 +0000
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