If you have always been a people pleaser and always try your best to be liked by everyone, and do not like it when people are mad at you and always your mouth shut and letting people do and say whatever and walk all over you, Apostle Johnson Suleman has a word for you.
The servant of God at the Omega Fire Ministries (OFM) worldwide warns you should never try to make people like you. “Deal with fear,” he instructed in his latest homily. “The person who already likes you doesn’t need it, and the person who dislikes you doesn’t deserve it,” declares the ‘Restoration Apostle, warning that you risk being overwhelmed by anxiety and fear if you desperately need to be liked by others to be happy.
“It is fear. Fear is so terrible that it takes some components to crush fear; love, power and sound mind, including courage. To be free from fear, guard what you hear. When the devil throws fear at you, gather yourself and respond in faith,” Apostle Suleman lectures.
There are people who are incapable of saying no to other people; they struggle terribly to overcome the need to be liked by other people. But Apostle Suleman’s warning suggests the keyword to be ‘need’. It indicates that it’s perfectly okay to ‘want’ to be liked by other people. However, issues arise when it becomes a need, because you would do all sorts of dumb things just to crave acceptance in order to be liked. The famous preacher says the need to be liked by other people can only compound the problem by breaking your commitment to yourself.
It doesn’t matter if that means ignoring your values, lying to yourself, or pretending to be someone you’re not; as long as it results in you being well-liked by others, it sounds good to you. But Apostle Suleman points out the result: “Jesus Christ and other great people in world’s history never achieved the impossible goal of being universally liked. These exceptional people lived their truth regardless of whether or not everyone liked them,” he asserts, instructing that you’re better at focusing on living your truth than trying to be liked by others.
People will dislike you because of how you look, dress and talk. People will avoid you or pretend to fall asleep when you’re talking, for reasons you may never know. But, Apostle Suleman cautions you to commit to consistently living who you really are because, he says, if you don’t, no matter who you are, you will always say yes to people who don’t like you for whatever reason.
Seunmanuel Faleye is a brand and communications strategist. He is a covert writer and an overt creative head. He publishes Apple’s Bite International Magazine.
