How do I stop caring about what others think?

My life as a people person

As I think back on who I was I let people dictate my life. I realized I was a people pleaser. There were people in my life that I would do any and everything for. If it meant giving my last that is what I would do. I would say yes to people when I really meant no. At the time I did not know I was a people pleaser I just thought if I did what people wanted me to do they would like me. Over the years as people in my family began to enjoy knowing I would never say no they started to take advantage of the situation. When I didn’t want to feel used anymore I chose to run away from my family.

I love people so much I was giving myself away
When I ran away from my family I thought to myself  I got AWAY. I get baptized in 2002 only to realize my new church home was also controlling. They dictated what I wore, how I talked, what I said, who  I was friends with and if you did not follow what they wanted you to do they embarrassed you on the pulpit. I was miserable, trapped and saddened. I began to think I would be better off in the world because at least I was able to be myself. What was happening to me in the church was conflicting with what I saw in the Bible and those around me. 

The transformation
Like Jonah I was running from an assignment. I didn’t realize that God wanted me stand up for myself. When the then Pastor decided that he was going to use my own child to embarrass me that is when I had enough. I wrote a letter expressing how I have been treated and how I felt over the years. I felt free for the first time ever. That experience was a catalyst for me to stand up for myself I became close with my family again and low and behold they tried to control me again and I used the word  to express I was not going to go any other way and they said I was different. I wasn’t a girl anymore but a woman. That is when I knew I was no longer a people pleaser. As I talked to God and I thanked me for who I am today I heard a voice that said now you can defend me. This whole experience wasn’t even about me it was about HIM. God is counting on us to fulfill the calling that he has on our lives.
God does not want people pleasers but he wants God chasers. You have to let go of your flesh yes, I said your flesh. You want to know you have made someone happy but making someone else happy can come at the expense of compromising.

Prayer
My prayer is that like Daniel trust that God is the only one that knows best. He is your biggest fan. Put on Holy boldness and stand for what you believe in. The hardest thing to do is stand out but know if will be well worth the wait.