DAY 50 - WHO ARE YOU TRYING TO PLEASE?
ANDREW MATRONE, YA MINISTRY LEAD
“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.” Galatians 1:10
Anybody else a people-pleaser? I’d like to say I’m not, but if I’m being honest, I struggle not to be! I want people to like me, I want people to be happy with me, I don’t want to have conflict, I don’t want people to think poorly of me! Now, I don’t think there is necessarily anything wrong with that, but when our goal of pleasing people gets in the way of us pleasing God, that’s when it’s a problem.
I was a youth pastor for almost a decade and one of the biggest issues I saw with teenage believers was they would go against all their values, beliefs and calling just so they didn’t have to sit at the lunch table alone. They felt such a pressure to fit in, that they would go to great lengths to win the approval of the people around them. Funny thing is, if you fast forward a few years into your twenties or even thirties, not much has changed!
When you really think about it, there are potentially a lot of the things we do in our lives that derive from our desire to win the approval of the people around us; what we post, the clothes we wear, the way we party, how we spend our money… you name it! You see… there are things in our lives that we know God has called us to or put on our hearts, but our desire to please people has outweighed (or at least seemed to outweigh) our desire to please God. That’s why many of us feel constant tension in our lives because our need for approval is coming from the wrong source.
What would our lives look like if our sole desire was to please God? Every thing we do… every decision we make… every step we take... Our lives would probably look completely different.
I’ve come to realize something so simple, but so important in my life… that GOD IS MY PROMOTER. Other people like to think they are, but they’re not, God is. And because of that, I am going to seek to gain his approval. Why? Because God can take me much further than any other human could!
So my question to you today: Who’s approval have you been trying to attain in this season? This is an important question to ask yourself. Remember something… whoever you try to gain the approval of, you’re a servant to… whoever you’re a servant to, will be your master… I want to choose to be a servant of no man, but of Christ!
Love y’all!