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Stop relying on people

It's great when people believe in us and cheer us on and make us feel valuable. We love when our spouse compliments us, a friend is there to give encouragement, our co-worker stays late to help us on a project. God uses people to help move us toward our destiny.

But here's the key. You can't become so dependent on people that you're getting your worth and value out of how they treat you. It's easy to become addicted to compliments, addicted to encouragement, addicted to them cheering you on.

Now, you rely on them to keep you feeling good about yourself, to always be there to validate you, to make you feel approved. Like a drug, if they don't keep you fixed, meet all your expectations, you get discouraged, feel inferior, work overtime to try to win their approval.

The problem is, you're trying to get from people what only God can give. Your worth, your value, doesn't come from another person. It comes from your Creator, and if you rely on people you'll be disappointed. People will let you down. People will get busy and not be there when you need it. Sometimes people will even turn on you.

In the scripture, Peter was Jesus' close friend. They were with each other day and night. But when Jesus needed Peter the most, when he was about to be crucified, Peter denied that he even knew Christ. Jesus could have been upset. "God, I don't understand it. Why wasn't my friend there for me"? He would have missed his destiny.

Quit relying on people. What they do or don't do doesn't determine your worth. What they give you or don't give you cannot stop your purpose. God breathed his life into you. He has crowned you with his favor. Quit waiting for people to approve you and start approving yourself. People may not encourage you. You could encourage yourself. People may not make you feel special. You can make yourself feel special. "I'm a child of the most high God. I know I'm crowned with favor. I'm one of a kind. I'm a masterpiece".

You'll have better relationships if you'll start validating yourself. If you're always depending on somebody else, you'll become needy, a burden, waiting for other people to keep you fixed. Can I tell you, your friends, family members, they have enough problems of their own. They have enough issues that they're dealing with to not come home and have to work on you for 3 hours. That's not only hurting you, it's unfair to the people God put in your life. They're not responsible for your happiness. They're not responsible to keep you cheered up.

Don't put that extra pressure on them. Learn to receive your value, your self-worth, from your Heavenly Father. If you're basing that off of what people give you, then if they change their mind, if they stop doing it, you'll feel devalued. But when you go to God for it, nobody can take it away. It's not dependent on how somebody treats you, how they make you feel, how many compliments they give you. It's dependent on the fact that you're a child of almighty God and you know he has already approved you. That's where you're getting your value.