For most of my life I have been a people pleaser. I know that I am sufficient in Christ alone and that it is impossible to please everyone; but sometimes, I still fail and seek this unneeded and unrealistic affirmation. I have realized how much people pleasing can hurt our family.
In Lysa Terkeurst’s book The Best Yes, she says “You won’t ever be able to keep up with unrealistic. Unrealistic demands leads to undercurrents of failure. So don’t allow the unrealistic demands of others to march freely into your life. Resolve instead to make decisions based on what is realistic –not trying to earn the approval of or impress another.” In addition, “We must not confuse the command to love, with the disease to please.”
This means that saying no is a must at times, in order to have the peace and space in our homes that we need to thrive. Every task or request that we accept means we have less room in our lives for something else. More importantly, it means we have less time to really enjoy the people we love.
Lysa continues, “Connecting with those we love is like soul food. It’s not that we don’t have tasks to do, but rather we don’t fill up with tasks at the risk of starving our relationships. Relationships nourish us in ways nothing else can. It’s the relationships that help unrush us.”
Time to enjoy our families is truly one of life's greatest blessings.