All week, we have been challenged to stop looking for satisfaction and purpose in the things of this world, such as relationships, possessions, happiness, work, and more. All of these things of the world that we look to for satisfaction have a common denominator: they involve pleasing people, even if the people we are trying to please are ourselves. When we live to please people, we want to achieve and earn their approval at all costs. If we want to stop looking for satisfaction in the things of this world that will fail us, we have to stop trying to please people and instead seek to please God.
The apostle Paul was committed to pleasing God over people, and he wrote about it in Galatians 1. Paul was a missionary who traveled wherever God led him to spread the name of Christ. He also wrote letters to churches He ministered to during His missionary journeys. Many of these became books of the New Testament. Part of his calling involved admonishing followers of Christ when they strayed from the truth of God’s word. This certainly must not always have been easy. It is difficult and takes courage to call out sin and to admonish others when they are giving in to sin and turning away from Christ. Paul began the book of Galatians by admonishing the members of the church of Galatia for turning from God. After introducing his letter in Galatians 1, Paul wrote, “I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to Himself through the loving mercy of Christ (verse 6). He explained to them that they were being deceived by those who twisted the truth of God’s word (verse 7). After giving this hard truth to the church in Galatia, Paul said, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God” (verse 10). Paul did not shy away from sharing this hard truth with the church in Galatia. Why? He was not trying to win their approval. He was only trying to win God’s approval. As a result, he would not shy away from speaking hard truths. Paul continued writing about his desire to please God alone, saying, “If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant” (verse 10). This statement from Paul is profound. We cannot live to please Christ and be people pleasers at the same time. If we want to serve God, we have to commit to seeking God’s approval alone.
My friend, we have to stop trying to please people in order to serve and honor God. We cannot be concerned with winning the approval of others or with people-pleasing. After all, God is the one who brings life and satisfaction to our lives.
Commit today to stop living for the approval of people. With everything you do today and every decision you make, seek to please God alone. Pay attention to how this focus on pleasing God alone impacts the way you go about your day. Commit to continuing this focus on pleasing Him for the rest of your life. Ask God to help you as you seek to do this.
“God, You are the only One who deserves my attention and affection. I worship You because…”
1This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.
2 All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.
3 May God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace. 4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live. 5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.
6 I am shocked that you are turning away so soon from God, who called you to himself through the loving mercy of Christ. You are following a different way that pretends to be the Good News 7 but is not the Good News at all. You are being fooled by those who deliberately twist the truth concerning Christ.
8 Let God’s curse fall on anyone, including us or even an angel from heaven, who preaches a different kind of Good News than the one we preached to you. 9 I say again what we have said before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed.
10 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.
11 Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. 12 I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. 14 I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.
15 But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him 16 to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.
When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. 17 Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.
18 Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. 19 The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother. 20 I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.
21 After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. 23 All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” 24 And they praised God because of me.
