Do you sometimes wonder what people think of you? Would you like to know what they say when you are not around? Have you thought they might say one thing in front of you and something else when they are not with you? Have you asked others about it?
We worry about what others think of us. It can get the best of us if we are not careful. If we are doing what is right, living as we should, and doing the best we can, we have nothing to worry about. We must remember that most people only see us sparingly and do not know very well.
Jesus asked His disciple who people were saying He was. People had varying opinions. Some thought He was John the Baptist who had be killed. They thought He may have come back to life. Though Jesus and John proclaimed a similar message, Jesus was roaming throughout Judea and Samaria whereas John stayed relatively stationary.
Some thought Jesus was Elijah. Elijah was to prepare the way for the coming Messiah. Of course, that was the message John was preaching. Though John did not claim to be Elijah, he did claim he was preparing the way. Others thought Jesus might be Jeremiah. Jeremiah was called the weeping prophet because he proclaimed doom. Jesus did foretell the destruction of Jerusalem and His own death.
We must remember the opinions of others are wrong more often than they are right about us. Rather than listening to their opinions, we must trust who we are and we are children of God. We must hold onto God’s love for us and trust him in all things. Jesus certainly did.
I pray we all stop worrying what others say about us. I pray we know we are children of God. I pray each one of us know that God loves us and we stand in his love every day of our lives. Stop worrying. You are a child of God. God loves you. You stand in his love today.
Matthew 16:13-14 Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist but others Elijah and still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Marty Pressey 