Instead of trying to please people, focus on pleasing God first. Allow Him to work in you and change you into that person He intended.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
(Ps. 139:14)
You are a woman by birth—God does not make mistakes. Rejoice that He skillfully crafted you, and understand that it is okay to be the unique individual He has created you to be.
I know about this from personal experience. I had a difficult time learning that it was all right to be me. When I was younger, I was shy, introverted, and easily intimidated. I set no boundaries with others, so people felt free to walk all over me.
I could not function the way I needed to as long as fear and torment ruled my life. I had to find out that it was okay to be who I was and to set boundaries. I had to learn what I liked and didn’t like and that I wanted things to be according to God’s Word. I had to allow the Word of God and the Holy Spirit to change me.
Instead of trying to please people, focus on pleasing God first. Allow Him to work in you and change you into that person He intended. He has specifically called you to be and to do certain things, but He will never ask you to be someone you cannot be.
Discover the real you. Then be the best you that you can be. 1
Ask God to reveal the real you and to give you the strength you need to shine. Perhaps writing in a journal would be a good way to let your thoughts flow freely. There never has been and never will be another you. Be who God made you to be.
1 Pat Harrison, The Great Balancing Act (Tulsa, OK: Harrison House Publishers, 2002), pp. 3-6.
by Lindsay Roberts
Excerpt permission granted by Harrison House Publishers
Pat is the daughter of Rev. Kenneth E. Hagin, pioneer and founder of the word of faith. She and her late husband Buddy Harrison worked for Kenneth Hagin for several years.
In 1978, by the direction of the Holy Spirit, Buddy and Pat co-founded Faith Christian fellowship International, a global family of churches and leaders who are committed to a spirit-filled life of faith. This was after having founded Harrison House Publishers and having owned and operated multiple corporations. Today, through FCF, there are thousands of ministers, churches and ministries, and outreaches around the world.
Pat is known for prophetic ministry to the awakening body of Christ in these last days with an emphasis on the love of God and living every day by the leading of the Holy Spirit.
