It’s too easy for me to let my fear or what other people think of me motivate—and sometimes dictate—my choices. Mind you, typically my fear and worry comes from a good place. In these two quick examples, I just wanted people to know I was staying until the end of a funeral and didn’t want a barista to think I was pushy. Ultimately, I just wanted them to think the best of me! 

Have you ever heard of “the spotlight effect?” Dr. Emma D. Levine’s research says this is “the tendency to feel and behave as if we are the focus of attention from an ‘audience’ that shares our preoccupations and insecurities about ourselves.” She continues: “This imaginary audience is typically experienced as a potential threat insofar as we may be experienced negatively.” Apparently our human nature encourages us to often assume that people are thinking the worst about us. 

But our human nature, I think, is also self-centered. Other people aren’t thinking about you—or me—as much as we sometimes assume they are. Let’s flip the script for a minute. How much time do you spend thinking about them? Did I spend a great amount of time thinking about that barista taking my order at the coffee shop? Nope. So why would I assume she was spending a bunch of time thinking about me? To be perfectly honest, we spend most of our thoughts thinking about ourselves. Right? And if that’s true for everybody, then other people don’t have as much time as you might assume to be thinking about you. Research has actually proven that our brain’s default is to think about ourselves. So if you’re worrying about what someone else might think of you and how they might judge you, you might actually just be judging yourself. Just a theory to consider!

Bottom line: Don’t stress out about what other people think about you. They’re probably not thinking about you as much as you assume. Trust God to defend and protect your reputation! He’s up for the job. And do you know how I know? I have a Scripture for you, of course.

Because I know I’ve struggled with letting other people’s opinions of me take up too much space in my mind, I was especially struck when I got to Ezekiel 36 as I read through this Old Testament book earlier several months ago. In this chapter, we read a prophecy telling how God will cleanse and restore Israel, and God’s entire motivation behind this restoration is because He wants to protect His name. Israel’s rebellion has caused His name to be profaned among the nations, and He is not about to let the people of the world think the wrong kinds of thoughts about Him. He takes action to defend His holy name. 

And wherever they went among the nations they profaned my holy name, for it was said of them, ‘These are the Lord’s people, and yet they had to leave his land.’ I had concern for my holy name, which the people of Israel profaned among the nations where they had gone. -Ezekiel 36:20-21

He had concern for His name! And while I don’t think God wants me worrying about my name incessantly, when He sees His great name and its holiness being profaned, He will not stand idly by. God cares about what the world thinks about Him. Ezekiel 36 goes on:

“Therefore say to the Israelites, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says: It is not for your sake, people of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations where you have gone. I will show the holiness of my great name, which has been profaned among the nations, the name you have profaned among them. Then the nations will know that I am the Lord, declares the Sovereign Lord, when I am proved holy through you before their eyes.” -Ezekiel 36:22-23

He was talking about cleansing and restoring the Israelites in the midst of their unfaithfulness to Him, and He specifically clarified that at that time, He would show Himself strong so that the nations would know that He is Lord. He was going to use Israel to prove Himself holy for the world to see. 

What was He specifically going to do? Ezekiel 36:24-38 lays it out for us to see. Even though the Israelites were in evil and wicked patterns of sin, God would:

• Gather them back into their own land.
• Cleanse them from their impurities and idols.
• Give them a new heart.
• Give them a new spirit so they would be moved to follow His laws.
• Provide plentiful grain so they would not struggle with famine.
• Increase the fruit of their trees.
• Resettle their towns.
• Rebuild their ruins.
• Make the Israelite people as numerous as sheep.

All this!! He did all this for Israel while they were soaked in sin. Why? They certainly hadn’t earned it, and they definitely didn’t deserve it. I love that Scripture clarifies that God’s goodness shown to Israel at this particular time was very clearly not because they were following His commands and being blessed with His favor accordingly. 

“I want you to know that I am not doing this for your sake, declares the Sovereign Lord. Be ashamed and disgraced for your conduct, people of Israel!” -Ezekiel 36:32

He wanted them to know! He wasn’t blessing them for their sake. But because their destructive choices had disgraced His name for the rest of the world to see, He needed to restore His reputation amongst the nations. 

“Then the nations around you that remain will know that I the Lord have rebuilt what was destroyed and have replanted what was desolate. I the Lord have spoken, and I will do it.’” -Ezekiel 36:36

So the next time you find yourself worrying about what somebody else thinks of you, try and put that thought aside. Remember, they’re probably not thinking about you as much as you might instinctively assume. God, on the other hand, keeps careful watch over His name! Rest in knowing that He protects His reputation. When Jesus returns and restores earth in His ultimate perfection, everyone will know who He is and what He can do. And everyone will understand that He is worthy of utmost, absolute honor, worship, reverence and praise. 

God will go to great lengths for the sake of His name, a phrase repeated four different times in Ezekiel 20. So if you want to take up arms for the sake of somebody’s reputation, forget about your own. Leave that in God’s hands. Release the space in your heart and mind being taken up with worry and assumptions about what other people might be thinking about you. Instead, spring into action for the sake of God’s holy name! Think about what the people around you are thinking about Him! What could you do or say for the sake of His name? A much more productive quest to set out on.