Today's Scripture
The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that. Proverbs 29:25 MSG
Thoughts for Today
Tammy Webb-Witholt, daughter of missionary parents and author of Living Free’s curriculum Lessons Learned: Moving from Homosexuality to Holiness, was a people-pleaser: “By the time I went to boarding school at age seven, I was infected with a case of the please-like-me’s.' Each year this desire intensified, and by the third grade I had a chronic need for approval. The kids I lived with were from other mission organizations and I was the clear outsider. They were determined to close me out of their tight-knit world. In response, I did everything in my power to earn their friendship. I even tried to buy their approval with the goodies I purchased with my weekly allowance. As the years passed, my methods of winning approval changed but my need stayed the same.”
As a young adult, Tammy tried to fulfill her need for approval by embracing the culture of the gay world. Eventually she returned to her faith and to the church, but even then found herself trying to please people. “I had been a sincere follower of Christ for more than ten years when a friend helped me see how my fear of rejection had crippled my progress. When will this ever end? I thought. I had grown so much in my knowledge of God’s power and grace. Good grief, I was even a credentialed minister! How could I have missed this issue that loomed so large in my life? In the months and years that followed, I addressed my responses to past events that had led to my need for approval. As I discovered my worth in Christ, I began to step out in total obedience to him, making my choices according to his will—not according to what other people thought.”
Consider this…
Where are you on the path toward learning to focus on pleasing Jesus rather than people?
This week we will be considering the importance of pleasing God, rather than men … and perhaps discover more than ever before our worth in Christ.
Prayer…
Father, I do want to please you … but I know that in some areas of my life, I am still ruled by a need to please people. Please help me to recognize those areas more clearly and to move toward being completely motivated in all I do by a desire to please you. In Jesus’ name …
These thoughts were drawn from…
Lessons Learned: Moving from Homosexuality to Holiness by Tammy Webb-Witholt. We live in a broken and fallen world; our brokenness extends to the depths of our emotions, our souls, and our sexuality. This small group curriculum by Tammy Webb-Witholt deals with moving from a homosexual lifestyle into a vital growing relationship with Jesus Christ. This study …
· Shows that the goal is not only to move from homosexuality into heterosexuality. The goal of our lives as followers of Christ is to come into His holiness.
· Shows that our journey of faith in Christ, whatever the depth of our brokenness, sexual or otherwise, is not to merely stop being one thing in order to become another.
· Shows that the goal of each day is to grow toward Christ. God by the power of His Holy Spirit and the truth of His Holy Word transforms us into a new creation.
· Shows the holiness is used in the truest definition of the word holy meaning to be "set apart" for God.
Although this study is written primarily for people coming out of a homosexual lifestyle, it deals with biblical principles that can help each of us experience a deeper walk with Christ.
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