People-Pleasing

Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. Galations 1:10

It's easy to get caught up trying to make people like you or even approve of you.  The world has us constantly seeking attention, affection and approval.  

Human beings are strange characters.  They don't like you for one thing, but if you change it and do want they want, they probably still won't like you anyway. 

Everyday in the media we see severe cases of people-pleasing.  Singers who want to be famous get on stage wearing next to nothing and the crowds go wild, soaking it in and buying out their records.  People seem to want to only listen to music made by "bad boys" or "bad girls" yet these same singers get seriously crucified in the media when their marriages only last a few days or they are caught with drugs.   Most of them can't cope with their people-pleasing so it affects their lives. 

People-pleasing is very dangerous for Christians and non-Christians alike. Even in our church lives we sometimes get caught up with putting on a show.  Sometimes we raise our hands just because it is the thing to do,  not because we want to surrender totally to God. We join certain committees just because everybody else thinks that you'll be good at it even though you don't like doing that particular thing. We even find ourselves marrying a particular person because everybody thinks that "you two look great together!". 

 Unfortunately for us,  people-pleasing has the undesired effect of not pleasing God.  If we spend the rest of our lives looking for approval from man, we will probably never accomplish what God has in store for us.  If we're busy worrying about what men will think of us,  then we'll be too distracted to hear what God wants from us. 

Trying to please people is like trying to fill a bucket with holes,  it will never happen. Man's perception of what is good changes daily. Somewhere on the planet on any given day and at any given point in time, there will be someone who does not like what you're doing or who simply doesn't like YOU. 

Pleasing God is so much easier and has many more benefits. First of all, God will always love you, no matter what, even when you make a mistake. Secondly, His plans for you have already been set. They won't change, because He never changes, therefore you won't be chasing a moving target. Thirdly, God will help you get to where He wants you to go. God guides us through every step in our process and is there to ensure that we don't hurt ourselves when we fall. 

So let us go through today remembering that our job is not to please every one around us or even to gain the approval of man. Let us remember that our focus should be on God's plans for our lives and what He wants us to do with it. Remember also, that what God wants from us is true worship i.e. a lifestyle that follows his commands. We can't be true worshippers if our lifestyles are following the commands of the person sitting next to us in church. 

Have a blessed day!

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