What is Approval addiction? Being overly anxious and obsessed with the opinion and acceptance of another human, just like you.
Infused with a compulsion to be what you feel others need or want you to be. Buying into the lie and the dangling bait of Satan. Bait that embeds thoughts into your mind that you are not enough; not good enough, not smart enough, not pretty enough, not talented enough.
That to become anything special, or to become anyone of worth, you must abandon SELF and embark upon a quest of enlightenment that reveals to you, that you are not you; and that to transcend to nobility and godliness, you must first cease to be you.
And who, then, do you become? You become one; self-seeking and placing yourself on the illusion of a throne, knowing that the throne was never created for you. Fighting to prove your worth to a lost society who could never understand you.
Ruth Chou Simmons stated it best in her work, “Graceland.”
“When I trace every anxious thought back to its origin, I inevitably find my fear of failure and need for approval waiting for me. I want to be the prettiest, smartest, or best because I think securing these will give me the confidence and assurance I crave. But, they don’t.”
From where did this notion derive?
That in order to be anything of worth and or value that we must, then, become the dictator of our character.
And, that our life’s purpose is to find the right for our wrong, the good for our bad, the present for our missing, the sufficiency for our lack.
This quest is not entirely wrong; for there is an answer to every question that plagues man, and a remedy for the ills of our sin.
But, it can be found no other place than God. Yet, God is the last that we seek.
We become fixated on the creatED and not the creatOR.
When did we become indoctrinated with such a warped sense of self-concept? I mean, this must have taken us by surprise.
When did we join hands with those who do not trust that God knew exactly what He was doing when He created us? When did we become so willing to give ourselves over to the mores of this world, seeking a rebirth.
Seeking to be re-created by the hands of others who have no power to create, refine, define, or assign ...
Purpose.
Then, I remembered something that we must remember ... The enemy cannot create, he can only produce a montage.
So who are you? Are you who God has called you to be?
Or, are you what the world has conditioned you to be?
I realized that conformity was a symptom of a larger issue: our own montage.
And, then, God spoke, and reality set in.
God said, “Choose me. Or else, exist as a montage.”
Before God will reveal, we must first courageously admit, Lord, I am lost!
I have seen the beauty of both worlds...but ones temporary and the other eternal.. I choose eternal..
Author: Sha'Leda A. Mirra
All Rights Reserved. 2020
Photo byDeniz Göçmenon
