HAVE YOU EVER had to confront someone and they turned the conversation around to make you into the villain? I’ve been studying for a sermon I’m preaching this weekend on approval. Be honest with yourself, have you ever manipulated the conversation to make another wrong and yourself the hero? When confronted, do you defend, deflect and deny? Are you a societal chameleon?

Approval isn’t always about being a “Yes man”, it goes deeper than that. Approval people commonly feel insecure and rejected, not unlike myself and a host of others, but the approval seeker has to find a way to make themselves feel better by casting blame onto someone else- “YOU made me feel rejected”, instead dealing with their own insecurities. They manipulate others through their emotions and feelings. They are never wrong, YOU made them feel that way. YOU are always to blame and they appear as the innocent victim to everyone else. This need for approval RUINS relationships.

How do you overcome this need? Find your security in the Lord, not others. People WILL talk about you; it’s ok, let them. Seek to please Him. Apologize where/when necessary and own your actions. Renew your mind to His Word and seek HIS face always. “The LORD is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him.” Psalms‬ ‭28:7‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ #runyourrace

To Learn More About Pastor Crystal please visit the Leadership Page