October 14
Who Are You
Living For?
"Am I now trying to get people to think well of me? Or do I want God to think well of me? Am I trying to please people? If I were, I wouldn’t be serving Christ."
Galatians 1:10 (NIrV)
Sabrina’s phone was always within arm’s reach. It was the first thing she checked in the morning and the last thing she scrolled through at night. Every post, every selfie, every carefully crafted caption was designed to gain the maximum number of likes, comments, and shares. She lived for the dopamine hit of a notification ping. The validation felt like oxygen.
But when the numbers didn’t add up—when a post didn’t perform as well as she had hoped—it gnawed at her. Were people losing interest? Was she not pretty enough, witty enough, relevant enough? The doubts clawed at her, and when the negative comments came, they cut deep.
One night, as she lay in bed, she saw a comment under her latest post: You try too hard. It’s embarrassing.
Her heart pounded. Who did they think they were? Her fingers moved fast, firing back an aggressive reply. Then another. Soon, her entire comment section was a battleground. But the more she defended herself, the emptier she felt.
She locked her phone and threw it onto the nightstand, her breath shaking. Why did she care so much? Why did the opinion of strangers feel more important than anything else?
Sabrina closed her eyes. God, why do I feel like this? The silence pressed in on her, and in the stillness, a memory surfaced—her grandmother’s voice, reading from the Bible years ago: Am I trying to please people? If I were, I wouldn’t be serving Christ.
Tears welled in her eyes. She had spent so long living for the approval of others, chasing after something that never lasted. And where had it gotten her? Angry. Exhausted. Hollow.
She reached for her phone, but this time, not to check notifications. Instead, she opened a Bible app she had downloaded long ago but barely touched. As she read, peace settled over her.
Maybe it was time to live for an audience of One.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
I have spent so much time seeking approval from the world, but it has only left me empty.
Help me to find my worth in You, not in the opinions of others. Remind me that I am loved, chosen, and valuable in Your eyes.
Give me the strength to let go of my need for validation and to live fully for You.
In Jesus' name, Amen.
