Do you like it when people say nice things about you? Like, “your hair looks nice today” or “I like that outfit,” or (my personal favorite) “are you losing weight?”
Or how about at work, when your boss, or a coworker recognizes you for the job you are doing? Or when a friend let’s you know how much they appreciate you? Or a neighbor compliments your lawn, your home, or (even better) your children. It is always nice to get complimented or praised.
On the flip side, it is not so nice to get criticized. Like, when you make a mistake at work and your boss points it out. Or when a neighbor complains about how your lawn looks, or that your house is bringing down the property values. Or when you hear from a teacher at your kid’s school about something your child has done wrong and you feel like a bad parent. Or when you get a few choice words or hand gestures from another driver on the road.
We don’t like those kind of comments as much, do we? We want to be praised. We want to be liked. We want to be loved. We want to be valued. We want people to think, and say, nice things about us.
But does it really matter so much what other people think about us? To some extent it does. I mean we want to have a good name and be a good testimony. But sometimes maybe we are a little bit too concerned with what others think. This Sunday we are going to look at some people who were a little bit too concerned about what other people thought, and it really got in the way of them following God. You can read about it in John 12:37-43, or come on out to The River this Sunday to find out more.