It can be tempting to pretend that we’ve got everything together. It makes us look better to those around us, and if we’re honest, people-pleasing and looking for approval can trap us all at some point in our lives. But here’s the thing, when we’re keeping up that level of pretence, we’re actually being hypocritical. That’s not such a nice thought. But it comes naturally to us. So how can we try and avoid it? The first step is to recognise that we’re struggling with it because once we do that, the Holy Spirit can come and start to work in us. The Spirit can start us on the path to freedom. People-pleasing and pretending we’re something we’re not can be such a big part of our lives that it’s not surprising that we can’t beat it overnight. It’s a process, a journey that God walks us through. Paul writes: ‘I insist - and God backs me up on this - that there be no going along with the crowd, the empty-headed, mindless crowd…that’s no life for you. You learned Christ! My assumption is that you have paid careful attention to him, been well instructed in the truth precisely as we have it in Jesus. Since, then, we do not have the excuse of ignorance, everything - and I do mean everything - connected with that old way of life has to go. It’s rotten through and through…take on an entirely new way of life - a God-fashioned life, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces his character in you. What this adds up to…no more pretence’ (vv. 17-25 MSG).

What now?
Think of one area of your life where you’re aware that you’re not always being yourself. Once you’ve recognised it, ask the Holy Spirit to step in and help you in that area.