Read: Isaiah 6:1-8
God has already declared your value and worth. It’s not up for debate anymore. However, it’s really easy to lose sight of that and become more concerned with the opinions of the people around us, especially because the people around us are the ones who we can see, touch, and have an audible conversation with. That’s why we can be quick to weigh their opinion more than God’s.
And that’s the problem with people-pleasing: every time we begin to base our lives around pleasing people instead of pleasing God (like we looked at in Galatians 1:10), it’s because we’re valuing a person’s opinion over God’s opinion. We have elevated and prioritized people over Jesus in those moments.
That’s why the next strategy for breaking free from the trap of people-pleasing is to get a clear picture of who is on the throne. If you and I can recognize the glory and majesty of God, His incredible splendor and worthiness of our lives, then the opinions of other people will feel so miniscule by comparison.
One of the most amazing pictures of this occurs in Isaiah 6, where the Prophet Isaiah gets a glimpse into the throne room of God. It is an awesome moment in every sense of the word.
The Holy, Perfect God is seated on his throne above all else. All around him are these massive, powerful, warrior-angels shouting “Holy Holy Holy!” - essentially “There’s no one like you! There’s no one like you! There’s no one like you!” And these angels are so strong that their very voices shake the building, and yet even they don’t feel worthy to show their faces in the presence of this Almighty God.
And Isaiah realizes that because of his sin, he has no business being there. But then, he is granted the most amazing gift: instead of being struck down where he stood as he could have been, he receives forgiveness. This amazing, Holy, perfect God gives unending love, grace, and mercy and changes Isaiah’s life.
So when God asks for someone to serve him, Isaiah begs God to let him be that guy. He wants to do whatever he can to please this God, because he is overwhelmed by how amazing God is, and extravagantly grateful for the forgiveness he received.
When we remember who it is we serve, the approval of the people around us doesn’t matter nearly as much. If we have to choose between other people or the One who sits on the throne, there’s certainly only one whose opinion is worth living for.