I'd Rather Have Jesus

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

This is something I am struggling with lately. Something I’ve been struggling with silently lately. And in my 20 years of existence I’ve learned that when you keep problems bottled up they don’t really go away. So it’s time to talk about it, because I’m sure I’m not alone. Here we go.

I never thought I was one to struggle with seeking approval from others. I always considered that to mean having the desire to be popular, to be the centre of attention; I definitely did not want that. Now I am realizing that that is not all it means. It also means seeking attention from people I admire/respect. It means fishing for compliments about the way I look. It means trying to be funny to make people notice me, and (unnecessarily) feeling hurt if no one laughs/heard me. It means feeling sorry for myself if I ever end up sitting alone in a room full of people. With that in mind, I guess I’ve always sought after the approval of people. When I do something well, I want to brag about it and get complimented on my performance. When I sacrifice my time and energy to do something, I want people to notice.

All of that is ridiculous on some level - I know that just because I sit alone in a room for a few minutes does not mean no body there cares about me; what it means is everyone is engaged in conversation or is busy and the world does not revolve around me.

I also know that even if that were true and no one did care about me, it wouldn’t matter. “But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8). God showed his love for me by sacrificing his own perfect Son. For you too. Shouldn’t that be enough? We work hard to receive the approval of man. What does man’s approval give us? Maybe happiness, a smile, warm and fuzzy feelings on the inside? We did nothing to deserve the grace of God through Jesus Christ. In fact, we do everything to deserve the wrath of God.  “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life.” (Romans 6:22). I don’t know about you, but to me, that sounds much better than warm and fuzzy insides.

We all seek the approval of man. In your lifetime you have, you are, and you will seek man’s approval. It’s just what we do. I know I do – I constantly seek approval and attention from my friends, my pastors, guys (I know my parents will read this and make a comment about that last one, but I’m just being honest – I am almost 21 you know…) Who do you seek approval from?

The point I’m trying to get across is that God – the one and only true God, the infinite God of the universe – loves you. He gave his Son to die on the cross for you. He wants a relationship with you. Man will fail you. God will not. At the end of it all, I’d rather have God, Jesus' sacrifice, and his infinite love over the approval of man.

Take the world but give me Jesus.