Should I care what other people think?
It is not that you shouldn’t care what people think but that you don’t want to let what others think stand in the way of doing what you should do.
Christians, some of you may wonder what the relationship is between doing what is right and caring what other people think. Is it best not to care what people think because of how it can conflict with doing what is right, for example? As with many good answers, the idea of balance is key to thinking about this question.
It is not that you shouldn’t care what people think but that you don’t want to let what others think stand in the way of doing what you should do. If the people around you don’t like it when you don’t laugh with them at someone at work or in class for making a mistake, then you shouldn’t allow what they think to impact your behavior. However, because you care about other people, you want to care about what they think in other ways.
For example, it isn’t wrong to want others to like you for the right reasons because that is connected to caring about your relationship with other people and is also reflective of loving people. However, you don’t want your relationship with others to be forged by treating certain people unfairly. You can still love the people around you without building that type of relationship with them, and if they choose not to like you anymore because of it, it isn’t because you don’t love them or did anything else wrong.