Scripture: “We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.” – 1 Thessalonians 2:4
Mel Robbins: “When you stop trying to please everyone, you finally have room to be yourself.”
Let’s try something.
Robbins suggests that we think about either the following sentences or something very close to them:
“I’m not good enough.”
“I’m not smart enough.”
“Everyone is going to be mad at me.”
“They won’t approve.”
“If I do this, what if they don’t like me?”
“What will they think?”
“This might make me look bad.”
Sound familiar?
Maybe they aren’t things you say out loud. But what about in your head?
These run like background music—quiet, constant, shaping how we move through the world.
Each one reveals something deeper: a fear. A story. A craving for control.
But most of all?
They reveal where we’ve allowed other people’s opinions to hijack our peace.
So let’s try this again—but this time, finish the sentence in a way that’s emotionally honest and spiritually grounded.
“I’m not good enough.”
For whom?
Who gets to decide that? Because last I checked, you were already declared “very good” by your Creator.
“I’m not smart enough.”
For whom?
And according to what definition? Because wisdom isn’t always loud or academic. Sometimes it looks like discernment, humility, knowing when to stay silent.
“Everyone is going to be mad at me.”
Who is everyone?
And honestly? So what if they are? The sun will still rise tomorrow. People get to be disappointed—and you still get to live with integrity.
“They won’t approve.”
So what? Approval is fickle. Truth isn’t.
“If I do this, what if they don’t like me?”
Who is “they”?
If they don’t really know your heart, their opinion isn’t the one that should shape your path anyway.
“What will they think?”
Whatever they want.
You have no control over someone else’s narrative. So stop trying to write their script.
“This might make me look bad.”
To whom?
And if someone’s watching just to catch you fail, they were never really for you in the first place.
This is what living free begins to sound like.
Finishing the sentence isn’t about snapping back with sarcasm.
It’s about interrupting the stories that keep you small.
It’s about recognizing when fear is running the show—and inviting truth to speak instead.
Brené Brown says:
“You either walk inside your story and own it, or you stand outside your story and hustle for your worthiness.”
Jesus never hustled for his worthiness.
He never scrambled to make people like him.
He walked fully inside his story—even when it cost him comfort, safety, approval.
And he invites us to do the same.
So the next time one of those fear-sentences shows up in your head?
Don’t ignore it. Don’t shame it.
Finish it.
Question it.
Redirect it.
Let truth have the last word.
Because your peace is not found in their permission.
It’s found in your alignment—with God, with grace, with your own soul.
Journaling Prompt:
What’s one fear-based sentence that plays on repeat in your mind? Try finishing it. Challenge it. Write a truth that speaks louder than the lie.
Grace and Peace,
Andrea