We’ve all come across someone in our lives who doesn’t seem genuine or authentic when we talk to them, or perhaps we have been that person ourselves. I was thinking why people might fake it or not be their true selves. It’s often because they want to feel accepted or fit in. We all like to feel accepted or fit in but we need to make sure that we don’t compromise who we are just to fit in
When we change who we are based on who we talk to, we become people pleasers, and we are not stable and confident in who God created us to be. We are also not confident in the values and beliefs we have. It takes more effort to pretend to be someone else than to be our authentic self. It is more freeing to be ourselves and not have to perform every time we are around people.
One of the things I remember is when I used to be on the worship band, it’s easy to get into performance mode. when I’m more focused on how I look or how I’m singing I miss focusing on what really matters, which was to worship Jesus and lead the congregation to do the same. I’ve noticed that when I completely focus on worshipping God and forget about all other things, many people come up to me afterward and say how the worship impacted them.
I’ve noticed the same thing at work. When my focus shifts from trying to please people to genuinely caring and helping team members with the project, they feel heard and start to trust more. It also means being humble enough to say, “I don’t know,” when we don’t have the answer, and being willing to learn from others. People can relate to us more when we are authentic and being ourselves.
According to Galatians 1:10, “For am I now seeking the favor of people, or of God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a bondservant of Christ” (New American Standard Version)
