When the approval-seeking housewife overcommits herself to activities outside the home to the neglect of her husband or children, she is more concerned about her reputation among her friends than she is about the Lord's reputation.
Scary, huh? I am learning that there are a million ways that people-pleasing is a sin of mine. It was even worse than I thought! His points either hit me where I was or scared me of where I COULD be, if I am not watchful. Praise the Lord for conviction. Another excellent quote that I DID include on my post is this one:
Pride is an insidious thing. Just when you are convinced that you have one of its tentacles under control, another one snakes out to grab you. Oh, it has probably been there all along, but you never saw it before. So off you go to try to bring it under the Spirit's control and in time, by God's grace, you do. Then, just as you're thinking you've got it under control, out wriggles another one. Pride is like a garment with a million secret pockets that you're constantly discovering.
What do you think?
2 comments:
Thanks for sharing. At the risk of stroking your ego and telling you that this post pleased me, ;) I will go ahead and say that I am encouraged by your pursuit to overcome this sin by God's grace.
One thing I will add to it, which I only know because of personal experience, is the deadliness of perfectionism. In my own life I have noticed how perfectionism, though disguised as "working hard and doing my best for the glory of God" is also people-pleasing more than God-pleasing because God does not have expectations of every little detail of our lives to be perfect (I still don't know what to do with that verse "Be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect"), but many times this is an expectation brought on by our own selves. The result is as detrimental as people-pleasing, even though it is self-pleasing (for me, anyway). I am a people so I guess self-pleasing could be in the same category of people-pleasing. :)
Nevertheless, the result is becoming prisoners and making others prisoners of our expectations, rather than looking to God as master and King. The result is, as you know, looking for value and approval in man's eyes rather than God's loving and everlasting eyes.
I look forward to seeing how God will teach you more through the second half of the book, and I'll pray for you that He will do big things to overturn this "beast" in your life. Thanks for the honesty, it's refreshing.
Good stuff here, Jamie. I always enjoy reading your writings. About pride; it DOES seem never-ending!! I HATE it. The Lord mercifully continues to show me how/where I miserably fail. Sounds like a good book, for sure.
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