Do you act differently around other people? We would all love to say no. That we are completely ourselves no matter who is around! But the truth is, most of the time, we don't even realize that we do it. When we are around our grandparents, we are on our best behavior. Around our friends and our siblings, we act like ourselves, whatever that means for each individual. However, in different friend groups, we change, maybe not much, but enough to fit within the group. We all crave to fit in! So we change how we talk and walk and interact!
I used to be terrible for this. I wanted so badly for certain people to validate me, for them to accept me. For them to stop looking at me as the disappointment they always knew that I would be. They act like I owe them tens of thousands of dollars with no way or any plans to pay them back. When in reality I have never asked them for anything. However, in their presence I would turn into this person that had all the right answers, the more they engaged, the more I hoped, and I held on to that hope that maybe, just maybe this was the moment they changed their mind about me! Why else would they be oh so engaging? I would soon find out. They would use every word I said against me in some way. Twisting my words, and my hopes and spitting them right back in my face as the laughingstock they always felt I was. It hurt and it was frustrating.
Proverbs 22:24&25 says, "Don't befriend angry people or associate with hot tempered people, 25. or you will learn to be like them and endanger your soul."
Someone that is very near and dear to my heart, who has come so far in their walk with the Lord since I met them, has issues with this. The circumstances are bit different though. I don't think they are looking for validation, or acceptance, but rather a reversal into who they used to be. When they get around certain people or family members, they start talking different, I laugh because they even start walking different! They all of a sudden have an accent that I have never heard before! The shift in personality is incredible. It reminds me of how much God does in our lives. But then I also have to remind them of everything God has done in their life! They are to be a witness to these people. They are not to be validating the life they are still in.
So when these situations come up, and you know how you will react! Pray! Pray that the Holy Spirit guides you. That He protects you! Let the Holy Spirit speak through you! Do not be ashamed of what God has done for you!
Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life."
Add comment
Comments