How People-Pleasing Feeds Your Anxiety

Why Do We People Please?

Often times, when we people please, we do it because we feel pressure to do or say things because of fear of what people will think about us. 

We do it because we don’t want to disappoint others' investments in us, whether they be spiritual or not. We want the people around us to be happy with us and with the decisions we’re making!

There isn’t anything inherently wrong with this at all. It’s great to have a support system who loves us and cheers us on in life. The problem comes when we step outside of the peace and Word of God and step into the expectations of other people. 

People see us from the outside looking in. They see our current circumstances without knowing the work God is wanting to do in us to get us to a specific place. But God is the only One who knows where He is calling us to, who is He is calling us to be, and what He’s calling us to do!

What the Word Says about Fearing God Over Man

When the dust settled and my husband and I went back to the drawing board of just resting in what we believed God told us, we had peace.

We weren’t anxious anymore! It’s like the anxiousness just lifted away. 

The season we were in was still uncomfortable because of the sacrifices we had to make, however, the Lord graced us, and He kept us!

One of my favorite scriptures I always make sure to keep at the forefront of my mind is Isaiah 51:12, “I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, And of a son of man who is made [as destructible] as grass…”

When we really stop to think about it, people are just people. Their thoughts, ideas, and expectations of us and what we do should not ever matter as much as God’s. This really pertains to both camps of people: those who are for us, as well as those who are not. 

I know my example erred on the side of people who wanted to see the best for my family, but this absolutely applies to pressures we receive from people who don’t like us. You know, the people who aren’t for us. People who want to see us fail.