Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study - How Chasing Approval Kills Your Faith | The Gospels | Luke 3:21-38

Episode Date: March 18, 2026

Do you feel like you constantly have to prove yourself? Are you trapped in the need to be liked, validated, or praised? How can you break free from this faith-killing cycle? In today’s episode, Luke shows how Jesus’s baptism in Luke 3:21-38 reminds us that the Father’s love and approval come before anything we do. Read the Bible with us in 2026! This year, we’re exploring the Gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Download your reading plan now. Your support makes TMBT possible. Ten Minute Bible Talks is a crowd-funded project. Join the TMBTeam to reach more people with the Bible. Give now. Like this content? Make sure to leave us a rating and share it so that others can find it, too. Use #asktmbt to connect with us, ask questions, and suggest topics. We'd love to hear from you! To learn more, visit our website and follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @TenMinuteBibleTalks. Don't forget to subscribe to the TMBT Newsletter here. Passage: Luke 3:21-38

Welcome to 10 minute Bible talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work. My wife and I started dating when we were seniors in high school, but we weren't just high school sweethearts. We were COVID sweethearts. See, we got the chance to graduate in that weird year we now refer to as 2020. And you know how it all went. The last few months of school were canceled, including all the festivities that you would normally have your senior year of high school. A lot of people my age were very disappointed about that, which I understand, but personally, I loved it because picking up your diploma in a circle drive is much more efficient and convenient than the long, boring ceremony wearing a weird hat. The one thing, though, that we still managed to have was prom. And that's not because the school put it on, they had to cancel theirs, but because some of my friends' moms put on a mini fake prom for me and my friends out in the country somewhere. And so for this prom, I invited Gigi, my then-girlfriend, my now wife, to go with me.

Now, we had only been dating for a short time. And to be honest, she didn't really know my friends very well. We were kind of in different circles, different friend groups. But she still said yes, that she would tag along with me and my friends for this fake prom. And so we go out and do the thing. You know how it goes. We have the pre-picture time where everyone stands awkwardly in a backyard. And you're pretending you're not sweating through your suits or your dress.

And parents are everywhere, cameras are flashing. But then later on, it becomes time to figure out how are we going to get to the dinner and dancing that are out in the country at some house? How are we going to carpool? And so get ready. This is where you're going to get to see senior in high school Luke and his spiritual maturity. I go off and talk to my friends, right, to figure out how I'm going to get to the dance, whose car, where am I riding, all that stuff. And I kind of just assume that Gigi's doing the same thing with some of the girls. that, again, she doesn't know very well,

so I don't know why I thought that, but I just figure she's got it all under control. So after I figure out how me and my friends are getting to the dance, I come over and check in with Gigi, who asks me how we're going to get there and who we're going to carpool with. And I promise you, I don't know why in the moment, but here's how I responded.

I look at her and I go, well, I've got shotgun in my friend's car and it's kind of full, so... I know. I can't take it back. Now, don't worry, the gentleman I am, we ended up riding together in a car out there. Everything worked out fine. But I seriously let her down. I'm glad she forgave me and stayed with me and now we're happily married. So there's a happy ending. But what's the moral of the story? Well, first, that I was an idiot. But why? Well, because if I'm being honest, I was so wrapped up in the high school popularity contest and fitting in and being liked by my

friends and not wanting to miss out, that I decided to prioritize shotgun in my friend's car over my future wife. That is dumb. But isn't that what seeking approval will do to you? Right? Seeking approval makes you stupid. Seeking approval from other people, prioritizing other people's opinions will oftentimes make you stupid. An addiction to other people's approval will ruin your life. And this is a still like a chronic sin pattern for me. It's not going away. I fight against it, but it's just always there. And you know what? I've realized that what kills my faith more than laziness or doubt or hard questions or anything like that is my constant need for approval from other people. I want to be liked. I want to be respected. I want to be seen as successful. I want to be included. I want to be seen

as competent. And instead of living from God's approval, I go searching for it everywhere else, which is wild because the Bible keeps telling me over and over and over again that it's not necessary. The Bible says, I'm accepted in the beloved. It says, I'm adopted as a son. It says there's no condemnation. It says, I have peace with God through Lord Jesus Christ. It says, I'm chosen, holy, and dearly loved. It says, I am God's workmanship. It says nothing can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus. But I hear all of that and I still say, I'm not sure. I'm not sure. I'm not sure if I believe you. I'm not sure that Jesus is enough.

I still feel like I need the approval of other people. I still feel like I need to be seen as successful, smart, competent, funny, good looking, you name it. Maybe you can relate. Maybe you can relate to the constant rat race, the exhaustion of seeking other people's approval, the addiction, the chase, the stupidity it causes. Is there any way out? Well, in Luke chapter 3, Jesus models for us the way out of our approval addiction. Luke 321 through 22 says this.

When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying, heaven was opened, and the Holy Spirit descended on him in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven, you are my son, whom I love. With you, I am well pleased. before Jesus preached, before he healed, before he casted out demons, before he raises anyone from the dead, the father spoke, you are my son, whom I love with you, I am well pleased. The father's approval wasn't a reward for Jesus's performance, it was a declaration of his identity. Jesus didn't earn this love through ministry success. He received it before the ministry began.

In fact, what we're seen here is just the outbursts. pouring of the eternal love between the Father's Son and Holy Spirit, which has been going on for eternity. And then what does Luke do next? He traces Jesus's genealogy all the way back to Adam, the son of God. Adam was called son. Israel was called God's son, but they failed. And everyone in that genealogy failed to live up to the promises of God. They doubted. They chased other voices. But Jesus, he is the true Son of God. He is the faithful son, the beloved son who will not waver. In the very next chapter of Luke, tomorrow, you're going to see why this matters. Because in Luke 4, Satan is going to tempt Jesus and say, what is he going to say, if you are the son of God?

See, that is an attack on Jesus' identity, on what the father has just said is true. But Jesus doesn't scramble to prove himself. He doesn't perform to secure validation. No, he stands firm. and what has already been declared. See, when Jesus was tempted, he remember what the father said. When he faced opposition in his ministry, he remember what the father said. When crowds praised him, he remembered.

When crowds rejected him, he remember. When he was arrested and falsely accused, when he was mocked and beaten and crucified, he remembered, You are my son, whom I love. With you, I am well pleased. Approval was never something Jesus chased. It was something he lived from.

And here's the good news. If you are in Christ, you share in that identity. Romans 815 says, you have received the spirit of adoption to sonship. Romans 8.1 says there's no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1-5 says God predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ. At the cross, Jesus was treated as if he were rejected so that we could be treated as accepted. He absorbed condemnation so that we could hear no condemnation. he was forsaken so that we could be adopted, which means the approval you are chasing today has already been secured in Christ. So why, why are we still rearranging our lives around

other people's opinions? Why do we let criticism unravel us and applause inflate us? Why do we bend ourselves into shapes that earn validation but cost us faithfulness? Jesus' baptism is not just a sentimental scene. It's the foundation of a life that cannot be shaken. He knew who he was. And because of him, you can too. When the father declares his pleasure over the sun, that identity becomes the steady ground that Jesus stands on. And in Christ, that steady ground is offered to you. What is true of Jesus is now true of you. The question is what you're going to anchor yourself to. You can anchor yourself in God's love, root yourself in what he is declared. Or you can keep anchoring yourself on shifting opinions. Keep checking the room to see how you're being received.

Keep measuring your worth by response and recognition. Keep riding the emotional roller coaster of other people's approval. You can root yourself in the voice that says you are loved, you are adopted, you are mine, or you can keep chasing voices that change with the wind. This is what Paul is getting at in Galatians 1 when he asks, am I now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God? Or am I trying to please people, If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. See, you can't acre yourself in both. If your identity is secured in Christ, you are free.

If it's secured in other people's approval, you'll always be restless. Today, you have a choice. To root yourself in what God has already said about you in Christ, or to keep chasing what others might say about you next. Let's pray. Father, we confess that we anchor ourselves to the wrong things, to the wrong opinions. We let other people's opinions define us instead of your word, instead of what you've spoken. Help us root ourselves in your love.

Remind us that in Christ we are accepted, adopted, and secure. Teach us to live from your approval, not spend our lives chasing it. It's in Jesus' name that we pray. Amen.