Oh my gosh! I loved Don’s sermon Sunday. I have been thinking about it constantly. When he said we need to live our lives for an audience of one…it really hit home. There is something exhausting about living for applause and the approval of others.
We feel it in subtle ways. The hesitation before speaking truth. The quiet anxiety of wondering, “What will they think?” Approval can become a scoreboard we check constantly. And the crowd is never fully satisfied.
Galatians 1:10 says:“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? … If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”Paul. had been praised. He had been criticized. He had been chased, questioned, and misunderstood. And somewhere along the way, he decided he would live for an audience of One.
When you live for people, your identity rises and falls with their reactions. Compliments inflate you. Criticism crushes you. Silence unsettles you.
But when you live for God, something steadies inside you. You simply become anchored. Your worth is no longer negotiated by popularity. Your obedience is no longer determined by applause.
Jesus Himself modeled this. He healed people and they still doubted Him. He fed thousands and they still walked away. Like Don said, If He could not please everyone, neither can we.
Living for an audience of One means asking different questions:
· Not “Will they like this?” But “Is this faithful?”
· Not “Will this make me look good?” But “Does this honor God?”
It’s freeing. Because when God is your audience, you are already fully known. Fully loved. Fully accepted. And I believe when you stop living for ap
proval, you actually become more loving, more courageous, and more authentic. More YOU! I am going to work on living for an audience of One. I bet He will Shine, Shine, Shine, through me more brightly than ever! Woo Hoo!
Tina