Personal Empowerment
The Problem with People Pleasing
by DiAnne Malone
Christian women are notorious for overcommitting, for feeling like they never do enough, and for endless striving. [We] are taught to serve, and serving
is good unless we serve to be accepted and appreciated by people. If that is
our motivation we have stepped over the line into people-pleasing. If we do,
we are easily manipulated, abused, and stressed. People-pleasers are enslaved to flawed beliefs, feelings, and behaviors that make them easy targets
for unhealthy adversaries and ineffective peacemakers. [They] are approval addicts. They want everyone to be happy–peace at any price.
–From the book Leading Women Who Wound
I
’ve read this paragraph in the book so
many times I don’t even have to put a
book mark in the book. It just automatically opens to the section.
I think many Christian Women can
identify with the “disease to please.” The
problem with people pleasing is that God does
admonish us to find favor with God and man;
32 HimPower September 2016
however, it does not mean sacrificing God’s
purpose for your life just to please someone
else. In other words, don’t trade God’s will for
man’s wants. Not a good trade off at all. The
first thing you should do is consult God about
how he wants to use you to move in a specific
person’s life, and then act accordingly.
The second problem with people-pleas-