Four People Talking

25 Common Ways We Can Identify Fear of Man

25 Common Ways We Can Identify Fear of Man

Pastoral Staff

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Fear of Man: When you are more concerned about what people think about you than what God thinks about you.

Matthew 10:28: Don’t be afraid of those who want to kill your body; they cannot touch your soul. Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

  1. You often worry you will say the wrong thing.
  2. You’ve never had a 100% conversation with someone.
  3. No one knows the darkest details of your life, or you have a secret you have never shared.
  4. You always talk about your past sin instead of your present sin.
  5. You often make excuses for why something is the way it is or why it can’t change.
  6. You resent people when they are not impressed by you.
  7. You get angry when others do not agree with you.
  8. Your energy level shoots up around certain people but plummets around others.
  9. You avoid certain people or situations and make excuses for avoiding them.
  10. You try and put yourself in someone’s path or think about how to get them to notice you.
  11. You often wonder if you have offended someone.
  12. You say you do not care if you offended someone.
  13. You spend more time talking about a conversation than you spent on the actual conversation.
  14. You replay a conversation in your mind, thinking of all the ways it could have gone better.
  15. You overreact when someone says something negative about you.
  16. You skew the facts or lie about something you did.
  17. You confess to God but not to others.
  18. You only confess to others, not to God.
  19. You fall apart when someone falsely accuses you.
  20. You often over work. It reveals you have something to prove to others.
  21. You don’t have any close friends because of the potential pain involved if it doesn’t go well.
  22. You manipulate others, events, or social media to get affirmation or attention.
  23. You often give ultimatums to people. "If you can’t do X, then I’m not doing Y."
  24. You say you don’t care what other people think, attempting to minimize your need for approval.
  25. You mock other people because of their flaws (form of pride) or their success (form of envy).