Today we’re wrapping up our short series on signs that we still don’t get it. I hope it has been helpful for you. If you’ve found that you still don’t get it in different aspects of your walk with God, don’t beat up on yourself too much.
Neither did the disciples. But Jesus stuck with them, and eventually it clicked. Jesus is far more patient with you than you’ll ever be with yourself. He’ll help you get it. And He’ll stick with you until you do.
Here are the final two signs:
3. You’re still driven by the approval and affirmation of others.
You’ve made yourself believe:
If I get another promotion.
If I buy another pair of shoes.
If I have sex with another person.
If I do another favor.
If I lose another size…
…They will approve of me.
Or:
If he would just tell me I’m beautiful.
If my husband would just notice me.
If my coworkers would just acknowledge my contribution.
If anyone would just affirm who I am and what I do…
…My life would be complete. My life would have meaning.
But it’s not true. The affirmation you want will always be just beyond you. The approval you crave will only last for a moment. You’ll have the thing you thought you needed, but you won’t feel the peace you thought you’d feel. And as I’ve said before, he who lives by the approval of others will die by the absence of the same.
Many people spend most of their lives trying to achieve the approval that can only be received. Stop trying to chase down from people what God has already given to you in Jesus. Instead live life with the knowledge that in Jesus, you’re already affirmed. You’re already approved of.
When you have the approval of your Father, you don’t have to prove yourself to anyone.
4. You’re still trying to put God first.
I know, it sounds weird. Shouldn’t this be the exact thing you should still be trying to do?
On the surface, of course we should. Jesus is supreme over everything. He is first in importance. And so in that sense, we should always be trying to put Him first in our lives.
But my question is, what does this actually look like when you get down to the grind of everyday life? For example, what does it even mean to put Jesus first before my family? Do I ignore my family to spend more time with Jesus? Or with my career, do I stop working to put Jesus first?
In many people’s honest attempt to put God first in their lives, they end up segregating Jesus from the different priorities of their lives. And this is the exact opposite of what Jesus wants. He doesn’t just want to be first before your priorities. He wants to be first in them. The center of them.
Don’t worry about putting God first, then your family. Put God first in your family.
Or God first, then your career. Put God first in your career.
Or God first, then your finances. Put God first in your finances.
If you do that, you won’t have to worry about trying to put God first in your life. He already will be. The thing that is at the center of your life is the thing that is ultimately first in your life.

