04/08/2021
I heard this said this morning, “If we live for people’s approval, we will die by their rejection” and it really resonated. I’ve been thinking a lot lately about identify and how we define ourselves.
This is something that comes up often in counseling. There is this deep desire to know who we are and that we matter. How we go about answering that question is different for all of us. Approval and performance tend to be the biggest two sources I see often in counseling and in my own life.
Approval from others for MY performance tells me who I am and what I am worth. This works to some extent until the sources that we look to no longer approve, because they are having a bad day, are withholding of affirmation or have other things to focus on. This also breaks down when we are off our game, or come up against someone who has more talent than we do.
In a culture obsessed with self, defining ourselves, by ourselves by ourselves falls short. We need SOMEONE outside of us to tell us who we are. That someone is our Creator. Only His words will truly and finally define us.
“But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: ‘Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” Isaiah 43:1