Day 2185 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


John 12:43 NIV

Yesterday we talked about how our lives should be spent living for God and making Him proud. That's a hard thing for some to do because God's ways are so much different than man's ways. What's important or required to make others like us doesn't really matter to God. So we need to decide for ourselves who we're living for and who's approval we're trying to attain.

Down here we can gain the approval of others in countless ways. We can have a ton of money and everyone will want to be around us because we're rich. We can have all the fanciest things and people will think that makes us more special. We can say all the right things and try to earn popularity that way. We can join all the right groups and try to find our worth there.

But what does making other people like us ever accomplish? Does it make us better people? Does it really make us more important or more valuable if we are massively popular? Will God love us more if we have a million friends or followers? I don't think so. So if working to gain praise from other people doesn't really do anything for us then why spend our lives doing it?

What we need to remember is God doesn't care how much money we have in the bank. He doesn't care if we live in a fancy neighborhood. He's not interested in us saying the right things but not meaning them in our hearts. He's not interested in us only if we go to the right church or the most exclusive group. He loves us as we are because that's how He made us. He wants us to live good lives, to help those around us, to share His message of love and salvation. Those things should be our priorities, not living to please those around us.

I know that every single one of us have said or done things to fit in. We've all tried to be accepted and approved by those around us. I know I have! But I also know that it gets us nowhere. All it really does is cause us to forget what really matters and what we should actually be living for. It makes us forget that God already loves us and that there's something far more meaningful to live for than human praise.

Learning to not care what others think about us is a pretty important lesson. Not because we're supposed to be reclusive and not love others, but because their opinions just don't really matter in the end. The only opinion that matters is God's so we should probably be living to make Him proud instead of trying to gain popularity or some huge following.

Just know that God made you exactly how He wants you, so if anyone else wants you to be something different then it's just not worth it! We can't live to please both God and people because the requirements are just too different. The important thing to know is that if God calls us to it and says it's the right direction to go then it doesn't matter if anyone else agrees!

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