Welcome to 10-minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life and the time it takes to get to work.

I'm Tanya Wilmuth.

Many of us struggle with approval syndrome.

We crave the affirming words of those that we admire, and we seek validation pretty much wherever

we can find it. We read into people's words and body language to discern how they feel about us,

and we long to be acknowledged by those whose opinions we value. So the desire to be affirmed,

well, it's natural. In fact, God offers us words of approval throughout Scripture, rooted in our belonging to

Him. John 637 says, So we praise God for the glorious grace he has poured out on us who belong to his

dear son. Now, this approval by God isn't based on anything we've done, of course. It's not something

we can gain or lose based

on our good or bad days, and that's good news. But because our approval rest on the perfect and

finished work of Christ, it is secure and it is unchanging. Very different from the approval that we

seek around us in our human relationships.

Approval from God is something we receive simply by belonging to Him.

So the desire for approval itself isn't sinful, but we're tempted to send when we seek it

from people over God.

It shows up in our words when we tailor them to what we think others want to hear,

and it shows up on our actions when we perform, not from our authentic selves, but to win the

favor of others. Many of us can recognize the idol of approval in our lives. We can recognize

it shaping our behavior. We see it in our thoughts and in the way we

interact. When we're driven by what others think, it affects what we buy, what we say, how we

behave, and even how we relate to them. We may even compromise our values to gain someone's

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