This morning as I was reading the bible I came across this proverb, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe." This verse, found in Proverbs 29 immediately struck a chord in me. As I have embarked on a journey of healing over the past 15 months, one of the recurring themes I tend to wrestle with is a people pleasing nature, a tendency to place the values and opinions of others over anything else, often at the expense of my own self worth. I do this in just about every area of my life. Yet through the process, it has become more and more clear to me that healing will not happen until I am able to firmly establish my value in Christ as "an unrepeatable miracle of God" as a friend of mine says. I have become a master at self analyzing and contempt, yet I find no basis for this in scripture.
So, that being said, I may still struggle with this tendency, but I consciously strive to reprioritize my value system, finding my identity in Christ, believing in my inherent value as one created in the image of God, and learning how to stand firm in that truth amidst all the voices, opinions, and believes of others.