Most of us understand what it is like to feel the pressure from the expectations of others. Resisting the temptation to live your life according to what other people think of us is a life-long battle. Also, resisting the temptation to become what others want us to be is a life-long battle.
How many of us are living a life that is not the one God intended you to live? Living a life that submits to the unhealthy expectations of others can be crushing, and feel painfully exhausting. Instead of confronting the people who are imposing those unhealthy expectations on us, we relent, and submit to them. Why? Because heaven forbid, we don't want to disappoint and offend. We're addicted to being liked, we want to please, and the core of our self-identity ends up fading away.
How many of us are becoming something others want us to be, Instead of living out our "true selves" in Christ? How many of us have become a clone of someone else's unhealthy expectations? This unhealthy pattern of people pleasing shows up more than we like to admit. These unhealthy patterns show up in families, marriages, working relationships, and friendships.
When people don't know who they are, the human tendency is to become what others want us to be. The result is people get controlled, maybe even bullied to become an image of someone else's unhealthy expectations...and it eats away at the fabric of our human-spiritual identity.
Great Question: What might be one specific way that you give into the expectations of others rather than be faithful to what Jesus has for you?
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