“It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe.”
PROVERBS 29:25 (TEV)

“I’m not trying to be a ­people pleaser! 
No, I am trying to please God.If I were still trying to please ­people, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

GALATIANS 1:10 (NLT)
Whose approval are you living for?

Because God wired us for relationships, each of us carries a desire to be loved, to be valued, and to be appreciated. We long to feel accepted and approved by others. This longing for belonging, the desire to “fit in” and feel connected to others, is the driving force behind many of the choices we make. In both small choices, like the clothes we wear or the style of our hair, and in major decisions such as where we live and work, what other ­people think has a greater influence on us than we are aware of.

There is nothing wrong with our desire to be accepted, appreciated, and approved by other ­people. In fact, without the affirmation of others we never fully blossom into our full potential. Our growth is stunted. We can only become what God created us to be with the help of others.

God shaped us to need each other. We all need someone to believe in us, to cheer us on, and to affirm our value and progress. If you are not in a small group and church family that do that, you need to find one that does. Encouragement is absolutely essential to your spiritual health and development.

But as with all of the healthy and good desires God puts in our hearts, the desire for approval can be misused, abused, and confused. It can become an obsession that dominates our life and a fear that destroys our soul. Like a flesh-eating bacteria, the disease to please can consume all our time, energy, and happiness. Bill Cosby once said, “I do not know the key to success, but I do know that the way to fail is to try to please everyone.”

People-pleasing is the flip side of envy. Envy says, “I must be like you to be happy!” ­People-pleasing says, “I must be liked BY you to be happy.” Both traps will prevent us from living a purpose driven life for God’s glory.
The dark side of the desire for approval is the fear of disapproval. After talking with people living in over a hundred different countries, I have come to believe that fear of being criticized or rejected by others is the most common reason ­people get detoured from the path God planned for them. I believe it is Satan’s favorite tool to distract you. Once you know what you were created to do, he whispers, “But what will other ­people think?” What if they dislike the changes you make? What if they criticize what you say or do? What if they make fun of what you believe?

This fear of rejection is often such an overwhelming force that we back away from what we know is the right thing to do. It is why peer-pressure is so effective in controlling what we do and say. Peer pressures — whether at school, at work, in our neighborhood — is rooted in the fear of disapproval or rejection. When schools or businesses or governments use “political correctness” to stifle our God-given freedom to speak and live our conscience, they prey on this fear.

Of course, the Bible repeatedly commands us to be considerate of other’s feelings. In matters of behavior where God allows great freedom, “We may know that these things make no difference, but we cannot just go ahead and do them to please ourselves. We must be considerate of the doubts and fears of those who think these things are wrong.

”It is unloving to ignore how our choices affect others. Paul reminds us, “For none of us lives to himself alone and none of us dies to himself alone.”

But the Bible also warns us not to let the fear of disapproval keep us from doing what we know God wants us to do. 
Proverbs 29:25 says, “It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you.”Another translation of this verse says, “Fearing ­people is a dangerous trap.”

The ­people-pleaser trap is baited with a lie. The lie is this: “If I can just get everyone to like me, then I’ll be happy!” But that lie will only make us miserable. We cannot live under the constant stress of worrying about what others think of us. The Bible says, “Too much honey is bad for you, and so is trying to win too much praise.”

On the other hand, God has repeatedly promised to never forsake you, never abandon you, and never reject you. The Bible says, “Even if my father and mother abandon me, the Lord will hold me close.”This is a truth you can count on, a solid rock on which you can build your identity, your security, and your happiness.

What seems so important now is only temporary. What other ­people think of you right now isn’t going to matter at all. In fact, it probably won’t even matter in just a few years. People-pleasing is always a short-term thinking activity. The benefits never last.
Everything around us today tells us that wealth, success, and fame will earn us the approval of others, but the truth is, none of these values will last. They are all temporary. God says, “The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever.”

If what I do pleases God, it is always the right thing to do, and I can stop worrying about everyone else’s reactions. This dramatically simplifies life. An idol is anything I put first in my life before God. If someone’s approval matters more to me than God’s, then that person has become an idol in my life. Jesus pointed out that it is impossible to have two gods in your life: “No one can serve two masters.”You have to decide. As Paul said, “I’m not trying to win the approval of ­people but of God. If pleasing ­people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

This truth, that I have to please only God, is an important key to becoming resistant to being manipulated by disapproval from others. The reason Jesus was not swayed by criticism or the fear of rejection is that he lived for an audience of One. He said, “I don’t try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me.”To be like him, we must do the same.
Remember that one day I will give an account of my life to God. 

Each of us will give a personal account to God.”You’re going to be asked for an explanation of everything you have said and everything you have done. That is a sobering thought! If you keep this fact in mind, it will change how you live each day and who you live it for. It will strengthen your courage to say no to things that you would rather not have to explain to God someday.
Remember that God shaped me to be me, not somebody else. 
From the book of "Purpose Driven Life".