Peace is paramount to your purpose. From your physical health to the health of your relationships, a lack of peace will negatively impact every single aspect of your life.

Peace is so vital to our existence that often times people turn to unhealthy outlets like drugs or alcohol in an attempt to find a momentary, yet fleeting sense of peace. But neither life or leadership has to be this way.

Today I want to identify one of the greatest threats to your peace so that you can eliminate this stress and get peace back into your life. The thief of peace that I’m talking about is…

LIVING TO PLEASE PEOPLE

Nothing robs you of peace like living to please people. Initially it can seem attractive because it creates a temporary (but false) sense of peace, but you can’t truly have peace until you’ve learned how to be comfortable in your own skin.

Below I’ve listed 3 reasons to stop living to please people so that you can get your peace back.

1. People Pleasing Breeds Stress.

Nothing is more stressful than feeling like you always have to walk on egg shells when you’re around people who seem impossible to please.

You’re never sure what you should say or not say – do or not do. It’s absolutely draining. So how do I get free from this stress? Live to please God, not man. Galatians 1:10 says, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”  Remind yourself that even if somebody decides that they don’t like you, God still loves you! Living to please God will always result in a harvest of peace.

[shareable cite=”@PastorTHall”]You’ll never be who God created you to be by trying to be who everyone else wants you to be.[/shareable]

2. People Pleasing Creates Worry.

Nothing will make you WEARY like WORRY.

It will keep you lying awake in your bed at night worried about every conversation you had during the day.

• Did I say something the wrong way in the meeting this morning?
• I wonder if I offended them on the phone today?
• Do you think they knew what I meant when I said that?
• She kind of made a funny face when I made that suggestion, I wonder if she likes me?

Philippians 4:6-7 says this about worry, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” Your ability to achieve your purpose does not hinge on whether or not somebody likes or agrees with you. Brush it off and keep moving forward.

3. People Pleasing Kills Creativity.

Authenticity is the foundation for creativity.

You can’t be creative by “thinking” like everyone else does.  Isaiah 8:11 says “The Lord has given me a strong warning not to think like everyone else does…” You were created by the Creator to “think” differently, but you can’t create the life that God called you to live by trying to be somebody that you’re not called to be. Do yourself a favor and give yourself permission to be who God called you to be rather than trying to be who someone else thinks you should be.

People pleasing is like wearing relational camouflage in order to fit in with others. But, if you have to hide who you are in order to be around certain people, than you’re around the wrong people.