What's shaping you?

Oh my goodness! I had the most frustrating realisation this week. Are you ready for it?... I can be too consumed by the opinion of others- worrying about what others are saying or what others are thinking. This may not be you but as I've said before I have to challenge myself not to worry and that includes worrying about the opinion of others...and I have to be careful not to let the opinions of others shape me, my decisions and my future.

I have been meditating on this all week... 'The fear of man is a snare'. A snare is a trap and the fear of man does not necessarily mean being afraid of people. But it means being fearful of what people think, say or do. When this happens, you imprison yourself and trap yourself. There's a story I love about a man, a boy and a donkey travelling. 

A MAN and his son were once going with their Donkey to market. As they were walking along by its side a countryman passed them and said: “You fools, what is a Donkey for but to ride upon?”	1
So the Man put the Boy on the Donkey and they went on their way. But soon they passed a group of men, one of whom said: “See that lazy youngster, he lets his father walk while he rides.”	2
So the Man ordered his Boy to get off, and got on himself. But they hadn’t gone far when they passed two women, one of whom said to the other: “Shame on that lazy lout to let his poor little son trudge along.”	3
Well, the Man didn’t know what to do, but at last he took his Boy up before him on the Donkey. By this time they had come to the town, and the passers-by began to jeer and point at them. The Man stopped and asked what they were scoffing at. The men said: “Aren’t you ashamed of yourself for overloading that poor Donkey of yours—you and your hulking son?”	4
The Man and Boy got off and tried to think what to do. They thought and they thought, till at last they cut down a pole, tied the Donkey’s feet to it, and raised the pole and the Donkey to their shoulders. They went along amid the laughter of all who met them till they came to Market Bridge, when the Donkey, getting one of his feet loose, kicked out and caused the Boy to drop his end of the pole. In the struggle the Donkey fell over the bridge, and his fore-feet being tied together he was drowned.	5
“That will teach you,” said an old man who had followed them:          “PLEASE ALL, AND YOU WILL PLEASE NONE.”

 The poor man and boy couldn't please anybody- but that's the point! We were not created to please others but we were created for freedom. When we depend on the opinion of others and live to please people we are trapped by the opinion of others. Their opinions can shape our decisions and we don't have the opportunity to live the lives of freedom we were created to live. I love Lecrae's words, 'If we live for their acceptance, we'll die from their rejection'.

Some of our lives are led by the opinion of others. A king lived his life like this and allowed the opinion of others to dictate his decisions and Saul's reign was awful and his death even more so. The king after him was different. From a young age, David knew who he was and knew what he stood for. The opinion of others didn't sway him and consequently he reigned well. His decisions were not always perfect but it wasn't because of the opinion of others!

In order for us to not be affected by the opinion of others, we need to know who we are and what we stand for. David knew who he was and was secure in that. How secure are you? Do you know who you are? When we know we are and why we do what we do, we won't be trapped by people's opinions fighting for acceptance from others. Know yourself and be yourself. 'To thy own self be true'. What's shaping you?