Do you find it hard to say “no” when someone asks you to do something that you don’t want to do?
Do you feel a driving need to keep the peace, even if it means that you have to stuff your real feelings and keep silent?
For many women, being a people-pleaser is a survival skill that we picked up during our younger years. Maybe we wanted to earn the approval of our parents or boyfriend or we wanted certain kids to like us. No matter our motivation, the driving need to be liked or accepted is something that we’ve all had to deal with at one time or another.
Today’s guest, Merrie Karimov, shares her story of growing up as a people-pleaser. She’ll tell us about how a powerful daily encounter with God helped her break free from living for other’s approval in order to live for God’s approval alone.
Merrie will also tell us about how finding her identity in Christ gave her the courage and confidence to say “yes” to some incredible God-driven opportunities, like moving to Russia when she was 20 years old.
If you’ve struggled with people-pleasing or you want to be inspired by someone who said “yes” to God in a HUGE way, you’ll enjoy part one of my conversation with Merrie Karimov.
Make sure to join me next week for part two of my conversation with Merrie. She’ll tell us about Fight4Freedom and her women’s ministry’s mission to restore dignity and value to human trafficking victims one at a time. You won’t want to miss this!
BONUS!
I’ve developed a free download for you! Like Merrie, we need to live God’s approval and not humans. So, this free sheet includes several verses that we can say to ourselves each day to help us focus on our identity as God’s children rather than trying to get people to like us. CLICK HERE to download.
About Merrie…
I am passionate about life, love God and love people. I am the wife of a “Rusky” (Russian), mother of twins AND one adorable big brother. I am a daughter, sister, friend and all around adventurer at heart. I am candid and creative and live to cultivate, invest in, develop, & mobilize others. I believe that inside every person is a hidden treasure waiting to be discovered, developed & encouraged.
Connect with Merrie via email at merrie@harbourhope.com.
