“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness” (Jer. 31:3 NIV).
Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people (Eph. 6:7 NIV).
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant (Gal. 1:10 NLT).
The LORD is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? (Psalm 118:6 NIV).
Heavenly Father, of all the traps that are easy to fall into, being overly impacted by what people think of us is the daily-est and deadliest. When people have too much power over our hearts, acceptance and affirmation can be as addictive as heroin or money; criticism and anger can paralyze and kill us, like the venom of certain snakes; and withdrawal and indifference can fuel our anxieties and intensify our shame. Free us, Lord; heal us.
We bless you today for the wisdom of your Word and the promises of your grace. Father, intensify our awareness of your great acceptance, affection, and delight for us in Jesus. Overwhelm us with your everlasting love and unfailing kindness. Nothing is more important, central, or effective in bringing us to relational health. Only your love is better than life. Only through faith-union and vital-communion with Jesus will we experience the fulfillment of our deepest relational longings—longings you gave us and intend to fulfill.
Then free us to love and serve people, as unto you—whether our kindness is acknowledged, reciprocated, or ignored. Help us to break the cycle of living as affirmation junkies and rejection phobia-acts. Help us to take back the power we’ve given certain people to either make us or break us. That’s not a power they deserve, nor one you intend for any human being to exercise.
Father, we’re thankful you don’t despise our weaknesses or brokenness, even when we have to confess the same things to you over and over. We long for the Day when we will be made perfect in love. Until that Day, keep freeing us from our people idolatries. So very Amen we pray, in Jesus’ welcoming and healing name.