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My Post-Christian Views on Validation
Sharing my reflections on finding freedom from people-pleasing and doing too much…
So, since the beginning of time in my relationship to the church, there was always talk about behaving in a way that was pleasing to the Lord. This message in particular took root in me, and I felt as though it was my duty to live righteously so I could get into heaven.
All I wanted was to make God proud of me. Looking back, I can see how some of this was harmful in my upbringing. Living in a manner of “pleasing” a God who was documented harming His own children was frightening to say the least. But as a child, all you want is to make your parents proud. And because we learned that God was our Father, the association of God to an earthly parent was direct for me, personally.
It always felt like God was watching me from above with a notepad and pencil, jotting down my wrongdoings, and waiting until I asked for forgiveness to erase the list that had been building up.
What I found over time, however, was the long-term damage of performing to please someone. Even worse, it often seemed as though I never got any feedback. It was a lifestyle of giving many times out of more than I had in my cup, but…
