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Speaker 1: Life Audio. Welcome to the Crosswalk devotional. We're glad to

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Speaker 1: have you listening with us. Today's topic is the Power

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Speaker 1: of other People. Will return with the devotional after a

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Speaker 1: brief message from our sponsors. The Power of Other People

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Speaker 1: written and read by Megan J. Connor. Fear of man

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Speaker 1: will prove to be a snare. But whoever trusts in

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Speaker 1: the Lord is kept safe Proverbs twenty nine, twenty five

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Speaker 1: and IV. If there is one thing in life I

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Speaker 1: constantly wrestle with, it is the fear of man. I

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Speaker 1: am a natural people pleaser. Through and through. I cannot

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Speaker 1: even count how many endless sights of sleep I have lost,

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Speaker 1: or the infinite number of hours I have wasted away

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Speaker 1: and worry over what other people think of me. If

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Speaker 1: I feel I have upset someone or I have failed

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Speaker 1: them in some way, I will recite and rehearse the

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Speaker 1: conversation or interaction over and over and over again in

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Speaker 1: my head. I will then think through every possible scenario

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Speaker 1: in which I could have handled things differently. Then I

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Speaker 1: will go through all of the ways I might be

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Speaker 1: able to repair the damage or change their impression of me.

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Speaker 1: I agonize over possible resolutions. Perhaps I should go apologize,

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Speaker 1: or maybe if I get another friend to go and

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Speaker 1: champion my cause, that would help change their minds. Round

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Speaker 1: and round I go with no reprieve. Does any of

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Speaker 1: this sound familiar to you? What is so ridiculous about

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Speaker 1: this whole ordeal is that more than likely I am

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Speaker 1: the only person obsessing over the situation. Is it possible

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Speaker 1: that someone does think poorly of me, maybe even seriously

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Speaker 1: dislikes me because of a comment or a decision I made? Yes? Absolutely?

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Speaker 1: But is it also possible that they had their moment

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Speaker 1: of irritation and have moved on while I am over

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Speaker 1: here wallowing and worry. Yes, one hundred percent. Yet more

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Speaker 1: often than not, I can't seem to break free from

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Speaker 1: this train of thought even further. Once I have suffered

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Speaker 1: through one of these unpleasant disappointments, I become fearful of

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Speaker 1: future interactions. I become more reserved and careful. Over time,

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Speaker 1: I retreat into my shell of self protection and either

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Speaker 1: avoid interactions with others as much as possible, or I

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Speaker 1: present a masked version of my real self when in

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Speaker 1: public to safeguard my tender heart. What a mess? Right?

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Speaker 1: How can we obtain hope and freedom? When we find

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Speaker 1: ourselves trapped in the bondage of people pleasing first, we

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Speaker 1: need to look past ourselves. It is a shockingly simple solution,

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Speaker 1: but when we often fail to recognize. If you skim

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Speaker 1: through the previous paragraphs, you will notice one very clear theme.

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Speaker 1: It's all about me. No ill mention of the Lord

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Speaker 1: in these circumstances, just my own thoughts, my own hurt

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Speaker 1: and rejection, my own solutions to my projected problems. As

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Speaker 1: elementary as it sounds, our emotions can easily override our

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Speaker 1: faith and our dependence on the one who provides all

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Speaker 1: that we need. Our heavenly Father sees us as perfect

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Speaker 1: and worthy, just as we are. He is the one

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Speaker 1: who formed us perfectly in our mother's limbs saw one

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Speaker 1: thirty nine thirteen. He knows the number of hairs on

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Speaker 1: our head Matthew ten thirty. That is how intimately he

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Speaker 1: knows and loves us. We are his precious children. We

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Speaker 1: are loved first Sean three to one. God is not

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Speaker 1: asking you or I to be perfect. He knows we

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Speaker 1: are sinners. He knows we are going to make mistakes,

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Speaker 1: lots of them, and he knows there are going to

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Speaker 1: be plenty of times when our interactions with others will

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Speaker 1: be a struggle. There will be people who will dislike us,

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Speaker 1: maybe even go out of their way to speak badly

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Speaker 1: about us. Whether their comments and opinions are justified or

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Speaker 1: y'k not. God does not want us to be ruled

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Speaker 1: by what others think about us. If left unchecked, our

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Speaker 1: attempts to please others can damage our faith and even

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Speaker 1: hurt those closest to us, as we prioritize working for

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Speaker 1: the acceptance and praise of others while sacrificing those we

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Speaker 1: love most. At the end of the day, our goal

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Speaker 1: should be to please our audience of one. His regard

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Speaker 1: is the only one that should hold such a place

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Speaker 1: of priority in our lives. If we spend our lives

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Speaker 1: fearing man, we will remain caught in the snares of

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Speaker 1: performance and perfectionism. There is no rest. There, there is

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Speaker 1: no peace. However, if we trust in the Lord, he

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Speaker 1: will provide all we need Philippians four nineteen. We will

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Speaker 1: be kept safe. Fear of man will prove to be

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Speaker 1: a snare. But whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe.

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Speaker 1: Proverbs twenty nine, twenty five and IV. Intersecting faith in life.

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Speaker 1: Are you someone who struggles with people pleasing? Do you

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Speaker 1: worry about what others think of you? If so, how

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Speaker 1: does today's scripture offer you freedom or encouragement? If you

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Speaker 1: find yourself caught in one of these cycles, take some

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Speaker 1: time today to write down or pray through your cares.

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Speaker 1: Express all of your frustration, hurt, and worry, Release it

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Speaker 1: to the Lord, and then leave it with him. You

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Speaker 1: are worthy and loved just as you are. You do

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Speaker 1: not need to prove that to others. Simply rest in Him.

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Speaker 1: For further reading, take a look at Philippians chapter four,

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Speaker 1: verses six through eight, and one Peter chapter five, verse seven.

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Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to today's devotional. If you liked what

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Speaker 1: you heard today, we want to make sure you know

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Speaker 1: focused on the right things, search for you your daily

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