All throughout high school, in the early years of college, and even now, I've struggled with gaining everyone’s approval. It is something that young women are pressured with everyday. So often we search to gain approval from the opposite sex, our friends and family, and most commonly, strangers or those who don’t like us. I cannot tell you how many times that I have gone out of my way to get someone to like me or have acted a certain way to gain others’ approval. But why do we feel the need to do this? There are 7 billion people in the world. Not every single one of them is going to like us, and that’s OK. Who we should really be spending our time and energy to impress is God.

Galatians 1:10 “I’m not trying to win the approval of people but of God. If pleasing people were my goal then I would not be Christ’s servant.”

As Christians, the only opinion that should matter to us is our Savior’s. Sometimes, there will be those who disapprove no matter what you do, even when your actions glorify God. There will always be those who are jealous or will find any reason to dislike you or your actions. The best action to take is to focus in being a servant in Christ. If you are an image of Christ, more people will be positively affected by you than judge you. Be kind, follow God’s plan for you, and do not let negative thoughts from others bring you down to their level. Christians have always been persecuted; it’s up to you to allow it to affect you. If you know that your actions are impressing God, then you should be proud of your actions and continue to serve God. Those who judge you do not know your heart, how many people that love you, or your beautiful relationship with God. The best thing that you can do is show that person compassion and kindness, for they might not know the Lord’s grace. After all, we are all a bunch of different looking sinners in need of the same looking cross.

You don’t gain confidence when you gain the approval of others. You gain confidence when you realize that your confidence is in Christ.