• Psalm 118:8 ESV
  It is better to take refuge in the Lord
      than to trust in man.
• Proverbs 29:25 ESV
  The fear of man lays a snare,
      but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.
• John 12:42-43 ESV
  Nevertheless, many even of the authorities believed in him, but for fear of the Pharisees they did not confess it, so that they would not be put out of the synagogue; ⁴³ for they loved the glory that comes from man more than the glory that comes from God.
• Romans 8:31 ESV
  What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
• Galatians 1:10 ESV
  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.
• Ephesians 6:5-9 ESV
  Bondservants, obey your earthly master with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ, ⁶ not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man, ⁸ knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a bondservant or is free. ⁹ Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
• Colossians 3:22-3 ESV
  Bondservants, obey in everything those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. ²³ Whatever you do, work heartily,as for the Lord and not for men
• 1 Thessalonians 2:4 ESV
  but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
• James 4:4 ESV
  You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God?Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

Have you ever given everything in you to try to please everyone around you?

“People-pleasing cripples our hearts, paralyzes us when we make decisions, and ultimately destroys our calling. We worry so much about what other people think of us that we ignore what God thinks”  (Anywhere Faith).

But there’s hope!

We can learn to value God’s opinion of us over everyone else’s and to follow Him in wholehearted obedience even if it means disappointing others.