VALIDATION!
Every person seeks this. Every person needs this. We see this in Jesus’ own life. Immediately after He was water baptized, the heavens parted and God’s voice spoke, This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased, Matthew 3:17.
God knows we need validation. That is, to know our inherent worth and value as His son or daughter.
Too many of us spend our time looking for–longing for–the praises and validations of men. Impatient and seduced by pride, we cut short God’s process of leading and directing us to look to Him. And instead seek the appreciation and attentions of men.
Something we should all be very aware of:
- The praises of men are extremely addictive, feeding our pride and ego. Our flesh loves to be appreciated and praised by men but it leads to a spiritual wasteland of a life.
- The praises of men come and go. If we are looking to men for appreciation or a sense of worth, we will be an emotional mess. Loved and popular one day, we will feel good about ourselves. Not so loved or popular the next, we will feel depressed and unhappy. Our emotions are left to the dictates of the flesh.
It doesn’t take faith to look to men for validation, much less appreciation, or to get some idea of our self-worth. It doesn’t take any faith to look to men.
It takes great faith to daily walk out who we are because we have taken time to listen to God and obey His voice; despite what we get, or don’t get, from people in the form of validation.
If our eyes are on Jesus, He will teach and confirm in us who we are because He made us; He authored our life.
If we are walking obedient to God’s call on our lives we will hear, This is my son/daughter, whom I love; in whom I am well pleased… When we hear these words from heaven, no amount of words, or the attentions of man, negative or positive can move us. God’s validations don’t speak to our flesh, they speak directly to our spirit, bringing an incredible God-confidence to our lives. Making us God-secure.
God knows we need validation. We just have to make time to hear from Him.