People pleaser. Right here. It’s me. I am a people pleaser.

Maybe you are too. Maybe you know what it feels like to carry that need to be liked by everyone, to keep the peace, to make others happy, to be seen in a good light.

It doesn’t sound like too much to ask, right?

But, more and more, I’m learning that it actually is.

As I’ve walked further into adulthood, I’ve realized that the goal of being liked by everyone is simply impossible. That has been a hard pill for me to swallow. Deep down, I want to put people at ease. I want to be highly thought of. I want to know I haven’t disappointed anyone. 

But the truth is this: we were never called to be liked, we were called to spread Jesus.

And those two things don’t always go hand in hand.

Over the last few years, that reality has met me face to face. I have made people uncomfortable simply by living according to my convictions. I have been misunderstood, talked about, even lied on, not for doing anything radical, but for refusing to lower my standards to accommodate what I know isn’t right. It has been painful. It has felt unfair. But this passage from John has anchored me:

If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. John 15:18-21

We are living in a world that was never meant to feel like home. Our standards are not the world’s standards. And if we truly reflect Christ, there will be times when the world does not accept us.

Walking with God will make some people uncomfortable. It will stir conviction in those who may not want to change. Our very presence can become a reminder of truth others would rather ignore. And for those of us wired to please, that tension can be hard.

But maybe that discomfort is a sign we are on the right path.

God didn’t create you to blend in with this world.

He created you to be set apart.

To be a light in the dark.

To be someone’s glimpse of hope in the midst of brokenness. 

The day is coming when we will finally sit at His table, fully at home in His presence. Accepted and wanted. Right where we belong. Until then, this world may feel harder and lonelier than we expected. But remember, if the world rejected Jesus, it will reject us too.

And when it does, take heart.

You might just be doing something right.

I’m glad you’re here.