2021-05-03
1 Korintiërs 9:26 DB
Langafstandatlete fokus nie net op spoed nie, maar op uithouvermoë. Hulle maak seker dat hulle hul spoed aanpas sodat wanneer hulle naby die eindstreep kom, hulle hul allerbeste kan gee. Paulus het gesê: ‘Daarom haal ek alles uit en speel die spel van hierdie lewe so goed ek kan, om te wen. Ek doen wat nodig is, al vra dit wat ook al van my. Dan vertel ek nie vir ander wat om te doen, maar sak self in die wedloop van die lewe uit nie’ (verse 26-27 DB).
As jy die tipe persoon is wat daarna smag om jou Godgegewe lewensdoel te vervul – moet jy alles uithaal. Strewe daarna en moenie vergeet dat Jesus die volgende gesê het nie: ‘…Hoe meer verantwoordelikhede daar aan mense toevertrou word, hoe groter plig rus daar op hulle skouers om te doen wat God vra…’ (Lukas 12:48 DB).
Dis een ding om sukses te behaal; dis ‘n ander ding om die druk te hanteer wat daarmee gepaard gaan. ‘…Dink aan [Jesus se] voorbeeld. Die skande en vernedering van die kruis was nie vir Hom te veel nie. Hy het dit alles verdra omdat Hy geweet het dat daar soveel blydskap daarna vir Hom wag…’ (Hebreërs 12:2 DB).
God sal jou aan teenstand en kritiek blootstel om jou karakter te versterk; sodat jy groter seën en verantwoordelikhede in die toekoms kan hanteer. Die vraag is egter: kan jy die prys betaal? Kan jy, wanneer jy druk ervaar, soos Nehemia opstaan toe hy Jerusalem se mure herbou het en vir jou teenstanders sê: ‘…Ek is met ‘n groot taak besig, ek kan nie nou daarmee ophou… nie’ (Nehemia 6:3 NLV)? As jou antwoord ja is, fokus op jou doelwit en hardloop om die eindstreep te bereik.
Sielskos: Num 16-18; Mark 6:14-29; Ps 37:8-15; Spr 11:3
2021-05-02
Psalm 56:9-11 CEV
The approval of others is something we all enjoy, but you don’t need it in order to have self-worth. In fact, people pleasing will cause you to lose self-worth. You turn yourself inside out for others, and just when you think you’ve succeeded, they change their minds. Besides robbing you of your peace of mind, people pleasing makes it impossible to follow God’s direction – and that ultimately is your greatest loss.
If you’re a people pleaser, changing the habits of a lifetime won’t be easy. It will require facing what you fear and asking God for the courage to follow through. David said, “I know…you are with me….I…am not afraid. No one can harm me.”
When it comes to people pleasing, you must understand two things: (1) Breaking the cycle means risking rejection by saying no when others expect to hear yes. When the people in your life are used to meek, compliant responses, they’ll react negatively until they get used to “the new you.” Navigating these waters will be intimidating at first, but is it really any worse than living your life in fear of other people’s reactions?
(2) You may have to explain to others that in the past you sought their approval because you felt insecure, but that’s no longer the case. The important thing is to act now!
Breaking any habit involves temporary discomfort, but your only other option is to spend your life feeling trapped. You can choose to suffer short term on the way to freedom, or long term by continuing to engage in the struggle to please others. Today make the right choice.
Soul food: 2 Ki 5:1-27; Matt 6:19-34; Acts 5:1-11
Psalm 56:9-11 CEV
We all enjoy getting approval from others, but we don’t need it in order to have self-worth. And in fact, people pleasing can cause us to lose self-worth. We can turn ourselves inside out for others, and just when we think we’ve succeeded, they change their minds. Besides robbing us of our peace of mind, people pleasing makes it impossible for us to follow God’s direction – we end up following someone else’s will rather than His.
Breaking the habit of people pleasing isn’t easy. It requires us to face what we fear and ask God for the courage to follow through. David said, ‘I know…you are with me….I…am not afraid. No one can harm me.’
When it comes to people pleasing, there are two things we need to remember: 1) Breaking the cycle means risking rejection by saying no when others expect to hear yes. When people are used to meek, compliant responses, they’ll react negatively until they get used to our new attitude. This will feel intimidating at first, but it’s the first step to freedom from the pressure of always trying to earn people’s approval.
2) We might have to explain to others that in the past we looked for their approval because we felt insecure, but that’s no longer the case. The important thing is to act now!
Breaking any habit involves temporary discomfort, but the only other option is to spend life feeling trapped. We can choose to suffer short term on the way to freedom, or long term by continuing to struggle to please others. Today, make the choice to break free from people pleasing.
2 Ki 5:1-27; Matt 6:19-34; Acts 5:1-11
Psalm 56:12 NLV
Ander mense se goedkeuring is iets wat ons almal geniet, maar jy het dit nie nodig om selfwaarde te kan hê nie. Om ander mense se goedkeuring na te streef sal jou inderwaarheid van jou selfwaarde beroof. Jy sal agteroor vir ander mense buig en net as jy dink jy het alles reg gedoen, sal hulle van plan verander.
Behalwe dat jou sin van vrede gesteel word, maak die strewe na mense se goedkeuring dit onmoontlik om God se leiding te volg – wat jou grootste verlies is. As jy iemand is wat ander mense se goedkeuring soek, sal dit moeilik wees om ‘n leeftyd se gewoonte te verander. Dawid het gesê: ‘in God stel ek my vertroue. Daarom sal ek nie bang wees nie! Wat kan ‘n gewone mens aan my doen?’
Wanneer dit daarby kom om mense se goedkeuring te soek, is daar twee dinge wat jy moet verstaan: 1) Om die siklus te breek, beteken dat jy verwerping kan ervaar wanneer jy nee sê en ander mense van jou verwag om ja te sê. Wanneer die mense in jou lewe gewoond is aan sagmoedige, inskiklike antwoorde, sal hulle aan die begin negatief reageer, totdat hulle aan ‘die nuwe jy’ gewoond geraak het. Dit sal aan die begin intimiderend wees, maar is dit regtig erger as om jou lewe in vrees vir ander mense se reaksies te leef?
2) Jy mag dalk aan ander mense moet verduidelik dat jy in die verlede hulle goedkeuring gesoek het omdat jy onseker gevoel het, maar dat dit nie meer die geval is nie. Jy kan kies om vir ‘n kort tydjie op pad na vryheid te ly, of om lewenslank te ly soos jy sukkel om ander mense te behaag. Maak vandag die regte keuse.
Sielskos: 2 Kon 5:1-27; Matt 6:19-34; Hand 5:1-11
2021-05-01
Proverbs 29:25 NLT
To ensure victory in battle, King Saul was supposed to wait for Samuel the prophet to come and offer a sacrifice to God. But as the day wore on and the people in his army grew impatient, Saul offered the sacrifice himself. When Samuel demanded to know why, ‘Saul answered, “I saw the soldiers leaving me…so I forced myself to offer the whole burnt offering.” Samuel said, “You acted foolishly…The LORD would have made your kingdom continue in Israel always, but now your kingdom will not continue”‘ (1 Samuel 13:11-14 NCV). Saul ended up losing everything because he was trying to please people rather than doing what God had commanded.
Speaking truthfully might not be easy or comfortable, but the Bible tells us to do it anyway, like Samuel did. That doesn’t mean we should be rude or insensitive, but we mustn’t let others intimidate us either. Just because somebody doesn’t want to hear the truth doesn’t take away our responsibility to speak it.
Have you ever felt uneasy about something that somebody asked you to do? One of the ways God leads us is through a sense of inner peace. Isaiah says you’ll be ‘led forth in peace’ (Isaiah 55:12 NIV). And Paul wrote, ‘Pursue what makes for peace’ (Romans 14:19 ESV). When something doesn’t feel right, and we don’t feel at peace about it, we must speak up. We shouldn’t let other people’s demands steal our peace.
Jesus told His disciples, ‘If a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, leave that place and shake its dust off your feet’ (Matthew 10:14 NCV). When somebody else’s reaction threatens to stop us from doing what we know is right, it’s time to shake it off and move on.
Num 14-15; Mark 6:1-13; Ps 37:1-7; Prov 11:1-2
