An Audience of ONE

I have this problem.  I LIKE to be liked, and HATE being disliked.  I want everybody to approve of my decisions and to agree with me.  This, of course, is impossible.  So, this leads to my feelings getting hurt whenever somebody disagrees with me about something that I'm really passionate about, or disliking me.  Sound like anybody y'all know?  I know I'm not the only one that feels this way, although I may be on the extreme side as far as getting my feeling hurt so easily.

I was talking with my husband about this the other day, because I DO want others to approve of the things I do, but this doesn't always happen.  Actually, I want to not care if people approve of the things I do, which leads to what my husband reminded me.  As a Christian, I serve an audience of one.  When it gets to down to it, all that matters is what God thinks of me.  What the creator of the universe, my Lord and Savior thinks of my decisions. If He is pleased, then it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks.  Does this mean that as long as I know that I'm doing what He wants, then others' opinions don't affect me??  No.  I wish they didn't, but I'm only human, and I have a long way to go to reach that kind of maturity as a Christian.  It IS something that I'm striving to do, though.

If I don't want negative comments to affect me, then I don't think I need to let positive comments affect me greatly either.  Let me explain what I mean.  On this blog, I get SUPER excited when somebody comments or becomes a follower.  It makes me feel special.  Yet, the first time I get a negative comment, it has the potential to hit me deeply.  I'm not saying that it's bad to enjoy a compliment (or a comment on a blog, in this scenario), but if I put my feelings of worth into how people view me, whether positively or negatively, then I'm going to run into trouble.  Does that make sense?  Even though it seems silly, complete strangers can hurt us deeply with their words or opinion of us.  It is VERY possible that I can receive a hateful comment because of this post.  Then I'll really have to exercise what the Lord is trying to teach me!  This is why we have to live for an audience of one.  If we place our worth in how God views us, and strive to please Him, then we don't have to worry about what anybody else thinks.

My husband and I have done a lot of things that seemed crazy over the past few years.  That's for another post though.  We're NOT wild and crazy by any means--in fact, by most people's standards, we're pretty laid-back and boring.  ;)  We're okay with that though!  There have just been several times in the past (almost!) 5 years of our marriage that we have felt like God was calling us to do something, and then we jumped.  He gave us the faith in Him, and the boldness to do what we felt like He wanted us to do.  I'm sure there were those around us (including family and friends) who thought we were going off the deep end sometimes.  I don't blame them--we wondered if we were a little crazy too!  Yet, each time that we have leaned on what GOD wanted us to do, rather than what those around us thought, He has blessed us tremendously.  When we've done something 'crazy', we always prayed REALLY hard about it, and then we tried to decide what we felt like HE wanted.  We knew that if we were doing His will, then we would be just fine.  Would it be difficult?  Most likely, yes.  Yet, when times are most difficult, that is when we can REALLY become more like Christ.  We learn things like patience, perseverance, selflessness, etc.  These are the kind of qualities I want to have, but can't get immediately.  They take time.

So next time you find yourself worrying about what somebody else thinks of you, try to think of what God thinks of you.  I guarantee that He loves you.  Think of what He thinks of your decision.  In the grand scheme of things, His opinion is all that matters.

As always, feel free to email us if you need some encouragement, or just wanna chat.  :)  Have a happy Monday! :)