You Have God’s Approval | Joel Osteen

[0:00]Too many people make decisions based on what other people will think about them. They run everything through a filter. How is this going to make me look? How will my friends, my co-workers perceive me? Will they be impressed? Will they applaud? Or will they look down on me? Will they think less? Instead of being confident in who God made them to be, they let the opinion of others determine what they do. They don't realize they're addicted to approval. Psychologists call this Fopo, F O P O, fear of other people's opinion. And yes, we all want approval. We all want to be liked, but you can't become dependent on what other people think about you. Everyone is not going to understand you. Everyone won't celebrate you. There will be seasons when people are for you, giving you approval, then times when they're not. And if you have that filter, I have to keep pleasing them. I need them to approve me to feel good about myself, then you're letting them be in charge of who you are. But your destiny is not predicated on other people's opinion of you. Whether they like you, approve you, does not stop God's purpose for your life. When God laid out your plan, he didn't have a committee. He didn't form a group chat. Call 12 of your friends, say, let's get together, decide who they're going to be. No, by himself, he called you, equipped you, gave you favor. If you live trying to please people and gain their approval, keep everyone happy, you're going to be frustrated. That's going to wear you out. You have to break free from what people think about you. You don't have to have their approval. You have Almighty God's approval. Don't live to please people, live to please God. He's the one that holds your destiny. Promotion doesn't come from people, it comes from the Lord. How much time and energy are you spending trying to get approval, trying to be well liked? Trying to keep this friend impressed, stay in this co-worker's favor. Take the pressure off. You can't follow what God put in your heart if you're always trying to play up to people. What will they think? What if they don't approve? A much better question is, what will God think? I would much rather spend my time pleasing him than trying to please people. The Apostle Paul had all kinds of opinions about him. At one time, he was the biggest enemy of the church, and then he became a believer. Some people loved him, others were skeptical. Despite all this opposition, he wrote almost half of the New Testament, impacted the world in an amazing way. He gives us a secret of how he handled the pressure and how he dealt with all the opinions. He said in first Corinthians 4, It matters very little to me what you or anyone else thinks, I have been faithful. Paul was saying, I'm not looking to you for approval. I'm not basing my decisions on what you think. Whether you like me or don't, that doesn't change who I am. He wasn't trying to please everyone. He was trying to please an audience of one. The one who called him, the one who gave him breath to breathe. He went on to say in that next verse, my conscience is clear. He was saying, I've done what God put in my heart. To the best of my ability, I pursued the dreams and goals he's placed in me. And some people didn't understand. Some didn't approve, but he wasn't ruled by their opinions. He wasn't insecure to where he needed people to validate him. He didn't have to fit into their mold. If he was addicted to approval, we wouldn't have half of the New Testament. Now, don't miss your greatness because you're dependent on people approving you. Don't shrink back and let your dreams die stillborn because you're worried about what they may think, what they may say. They may not accept you. Well, that's an addiction that needs to be broken. You have to be like Paul, be bold, have that attitude, it matters very little what people think, what they say. I don't need their approval to do what God's called me to do. If you're getting your approval from people, you're letting them control you. And I'm not talking about never taking advice and not listening to counsel. I'm saying, don't let their opinion become more important than what God put in your heart. If you can say like Paul, my conscience is clear. God, I've searched my heart, to the best of my ability, I believe this is something you want me to do, that this is a part of my destiny. Then you don't need 12 people to confirm it. You don't need all your family to cheer you on, your friends and co-workers to approve. You may not get that. Sometimes God will cause people to withhold their approval. It's a test. Are you going to let their lack of approval, their opinion, keep you from becoming who you were created to be? When my father went to be with the Lord, I stepped up to pastor the church. I was insecure. I didn't feel qualified, and I was trying to figure everything out and who I was going to be and how I was going to lead. What direction the church was going to go? There were a lot of different opinions. My personality type is to want to please people. I'm kind. I'll do anything for you. That can be good, but it also can be a weakness. There were all these different opinions, and I found myself tempted to make decisions based on what people would think. And there was this man that had been on staff with us at the church for many years, a good friend of my father. I had known him since I was a little boy and always liked him. One day he called and started telling me everything I needed to do, how to minister, how to run the church. We should do more of this, less of that. He was very opinionated, very strong. He said, if you don't do these things, Joel, it's all going to go down. And there's a fine line between advice and manipulation. I'm always open for new ideas. The problem was nothing he was telling me bore witness with my spirit. It was just the opposite of what I was feeling. What I've learned is you can hear God's voice for your life more than anyone else. God is not going to speak to someone else about your destiny and not tell you. Other people may confirm it, they may encourage you, but if it doesn't agree with your spirit, then you need to dismiss it. Don't let other people squeeze you into their mold. I looked up to this man, like a father figure to me, and I thought if I don't do what he wants, then he's not going to approve me. He may not support me. He may tell others, try to stir up trouble. All these reasons said, you need his approval. You better take his opinion. Don't rock the boat. These are tests we have to pass. Am I going to please people or am I going to please God? I was afraid of what he would think, afraid he may be offended, afraid he might not like me. The scripture says, fearing people is a dangerous trap. Doesn't say a bad trap. Doesn't say it's unhealthy. It uses the word dangerous because if you fear people, you can miss your destiny. If you let the opinion of others, what will they think? What if they don't approve me? If you let that hold you back, then you can miss who you were created to be. And something rose up in me, like a holy boldness. I was respectful, I was kind, but I was very strong. I said in effect, thanks, but no thanks, I'm not following your plan, I'm going to follow what God put in my heart. Sometimes you have to go alone. You have to do it without the approval of those that you thought would be for you. Other people may not see what God put in you. They can't feel what you feel. He wasn't happy. He told me how it wasn't going to work out and how I was missing it. He ended up leaving the church and I was so thrilled, I mean, disappointed. But I learned, I didn't have to have his approval, you and God are a majority. He didn't approve me, but Almighty God shined down his favor. But here's my point. Had I listened to that man and let the fear of people determine my decisions? Had I let the opinion of others dictate my life, I wouldn't be here today. We put too much emphasis on people's approval, but people didn't call you. People didn't crown you with favor. People didn't know you before you were formed in your mother's womb. The Most High God did. Quit worrying about their opinions and get your approval from him. In the scripture, God told Jeremiah that before he was born, he had set Jeremiah apart and called him to speak to nations. That he'd be a prophet, that he would impact the culture. Jeremiah was a teenager. He felt unqualified. God told him he would give him the words to speak and wherever he went, his hand of favor would be on him. After God spoke all these incredible things and told him how he would be a history maker, God finished by saying one last thing. He said, Jeremiah, don't be afraid of the people. God knew that people wouldn't understand him, that friends may not agree. He was saying, don't let the opinion of others hold you back. Don't let what they think, what they say, keep you from fulfilling your purpose. God is saying that to us, don't fear the people. If they don't approve you, that's not going to stop your purpose. What will stop you is if you let their opinion become more important than what God has put in your heart. The late 1950s, my father was pastoring a successful church. They just built a brand new sanctuary, held a thousand people. That was unheard of back then. He was on the state board for his denomination. Life was good. My sister Lisa was born with something like cerebral palsy. The doctors told my parents that she would probably never be able to walk or feed herself. Of course, they were devastated. My father went to a hotel downtown to spend a few days alone, reading his Bible and praying. He saw how all through the scripture, Jesus went around healing people and how the Holy Spirit brings power and victory. He'd been taught that God didn't heal now. That was just for back then. But that day his eyes were open. He came back to his church with this new fire and this new faith. He began sharing with them. He thought everyone would be excited, but it was just the opposite. It didn't fit into their tradition. My father could have shrunk back, thought, I don't want to rock this boat. I don't want people to not like me. I'll go back to what I used to be. He could have feared the people, let their disapproval override what God put in his heart. Instead, he chose to please God. Some people didn't like it. They got upset. They ended up asking my parents to leave the church. But the scripture says, it is better to obey God than to obey people. He wasn't dependent on who liked him, who didn't support him, who used to be for him. He got his approval from his Heavenly Father.