Be a God Pleaser

“The safest place to be is in the will of God.”

—ANONYMOUS

Now am I trying to win the favor of men, or of God? Do I seek to please men? If I were still seeking popularity with men, I should not be a bond servant of Christ (the Messiah).

—Galatians 1:10

In the verse above, the apostle Paul says if he was trying to be popular with people, he would not have become an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. The pressure to please people will build a wall keeping us from pleasing God and fulfilling our God-ordained destiny.

It’s normal to want acceptance. Most of us experience rejection early in life from some source. It doesn’t matter who it’s from—parents, siblings, teachers, or peers—it always hurts and the painful memory causes us to do almost anything to avoid it in the future. The fear of rejection causes us to react emotionally instead of wisely. Wisdom always does now what it will be satisfied with later on in life, but emotions do what feels good right now. They push us to do whatever it takes to avoid pain and discomfort.

For years I let people control me, but eventually I discovered they really did not care about me. They were using me to make them happy, but had no interest in my joy. When I received the call from God to be in ministry, all the people I thought were my friends rejected me without hesitation. I was no longer doing what they approved of, so I was no longer necessary in their lives. I was deeply hurt and felt very much alone, but I am grateful God gave me the grace to choose Him over them.

I shudder to think I might still be living a phony life of pretense, trying to win the favor of people who really did not genuinely care about me. People who are real friends will help you be all God wants you to be. They won’t use you and then discard you when you no longer please them. Trying to please all of the people all of the time will really complicate your life because everyone seems to expect something different. When you spend so much time and energy trying to please others, you take a great risk in losing yourself. Always remember God must be number one in your life. Even if everyone else walks away from you, He promises to never leave you or forsake you.