"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline" (II Timothy 1:7).
"What will people think if I fail?" "What will people think if I change?" These are questions that haunt us all from time to time. The fear of public humiliation has great power to keep us inert, to keep us from moving toward making the changes we need to make. We need to remember that failure is an essential part of growth. I have great respect for those who are willing to take a risk and perhaps fail because that sets them apart as people of courage; as people who are willing to grow. When we do something we are afraid to do we grow stronger as a result.
It is an inescapable truth that there will always be those who will be critical of the positive changes. If there are people close to you who are critical of positive changes you have made in your life, you have to ask yourself the question, "is it good to have these people in my life?"
Grace&Peace,
Tom
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2 comments:
Don't you think that fear of what others think does cause us to change. For instance, I clean my house for guests, but some things I let go day-to-day.
My thought here was not intended to encourage a person to be irresponsible, but it was intended to put less weight on the "What will other people think?" argument. What other people will think is a matter of importance, but we shouldn't make it more weighty than it deserves.
It is also true that sometimes communities, workplaces, churches and families become dysfunctional. Someone needs to break the cycle of dysfunction with positive behaviors. It is a scary situation to be the break-out person.
Finally, we all tend to get labled by others as a certain kind of person--what will others think of us if we begin to act differently? If it is a matter of positive change, then what others think shouldn't matter.
One always has to evaluate the social pressures they experience. Some are positive--they help U keep your house clean. Some are negative--they pressure U to overspend or over.... The best way to evaluate these pressures is by the Word of God.
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