Audience of One
Living for an audience of one. What does that mean to you? Well, let me first start by saying that the culture we live in today makes it really hard to “live for an audience of one.” Just about everything we do nowadays can be seen by the public eye because of our access to social media. With the click of a button, you can show your followers what you ate today, where you’re traveling to, who your best friends are, etc. It is SO easy to make our personal lives public. Now, when I think about why we like to share everything about our lives on social media, I keep coming back to this one answer. Applause of man. We will do anything to get the likes, the follows, the retweets. Why? Because that makes us feel good. It gives us this satisfaction like we’ve achieved some kind of goal simply by getting more likes or more follows. But I want to challenge you with this question: what if we started living for an audience of one, God, instead of everyone around us? What if we lived for the applause and the “good jobs” from God, instead of people?
Yes, the compliments from people are great! It feels good when someone responds to your story or comments on your post. But when you lie your head down at night, is that what brings you true joy? Is that what gets you through the long days and the tough battles? It may bring you temporary happiness, but what happens on the days when you don’t get the compliments and you don’t receive applause from man? When we put all of our effort into getting the praise of people, we are left feeling empty and asking ourselves, “Is this really all there is?” The good news is NO! That’s not all there is! There is hope and freedom in Jesus and when we humble ourselves before him, he graciously gives us peace, joy and comfort. We can be all that we were created to be when we are living fully for Christ! I do want to say that I am definitely not perfect at this by any means. I still struggle with this daily. But it is important to commit every single day to fighting this battle so we can walk in obedience to the Lord. We will never be perfect, but there is GRACE and there is REDEMPTION.
Galatians 1:10 says, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” I think this is a really important question to ask ourselves. If everything we are doing is for the purpose of pleasing and glorifying God, then we can do all that he has called us to! So often we care too much about what others think or say about us. What happens when we spend all our time worrying about other people’s opinions? We hinder ourselves from reaching our full potential! Stop performing for others. The opinion of man cannot and will not sustain you!
If we look at the life of Jesus, we can see so clearly what it means to live for the audience of one. Jesus was never moved nor effected based on the applause nor the rejection of man. He dedicated his life to the audience of our Lord and that is how he was able to walk out a life of obedience and humility. There is so much power in your purpose, don’t hold back from it because you care too much about what the people around you are going to say! Romans 12:2 tells us, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” When you put away the desire of getting people’s approval, you will find power, purpose and effectiveness in your life because you are living your life for God!
Challenges:
Ask yourself: Who am I living for? Really pray about and meditate on where your heart lies. Ask God to restore you and to redirect you if this is something you are struggling with! There is power in prayer!
Reevaluate the reasoning behind why you post on social media. Whether this looks like taking a break from Instagram or maybe unfollowing certain people, I encourage you to think about why you want to post the things you do! I am not at all saying that posting is bad or harmful, but I think it is important to make sure our hearts are in the right place. For your own health and happiness!
Memorize Colossians 3:23-24. “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving”
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for today! We praise you that we can come together to worship you and challenge one another in growth. I pray that myself and everyone reading this will run whole-heartedly towards you! That everything we do is not for our own satisfaction and glorification, but to praise YOU and bring YOU glory! I pray that our hearts align with you and your calling for us. That we could boldly and confidently stand firm in what we believe and walk with you to reach our full potential. Thank you that your will is good and perfect! Help us to be obedient in pursuing your calling on our lives. You are a good good Father and we praise you for that! In Jesus’ name we pray! Amen!