Pleasing God vs. people pleasing

[Ather Javed]

Pleasing God vs. people pleasing

 

Beloved,

 

I feel that we as a people have faced at many times  the choice of pleasing God or pleasing people! There comes a time where we must make a decision to serve God whole-heartedly in a sense to say that we are sold out to and for Christ. I believe that it can seem to be a part of human nature to want to be pleasing to all people but then we know that things are not always as though they seem. You know as children of God, we are called to please our neighbors according to Romans 15:2-3, but even so we are to maintain a balance even in this area. Know that God desires for us to be good to others, but not at the expense of displeasing the Lord. I myself have found at many times in my life that no matter how hard I tried that you just cannot please everybody, in pleasing one you displease another. To take things up a notch higher to the Most High in Acts 5:29 the bible reads that we must obey God rather than men. Now we have also a biblical example in our brother Paul who in His walk with the Lord wanted to please people by maintaining good relationships for the purpose of leading them to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior 1Cor. 10:33. In the same sense Paul wanted to fulfill the call on his life Paul knew the significance of balance.There will come times in our lives where we discover if we don't please some people they will disapprove of us, therefore if we are out of balance and need approval from people then we become people pleasers. God's Word calls for us to be led by the Spirit. People who operate out of pleasing people usually stems from roots issues such as fear of rejection, judgement, what people think and/or say, anger and disapproval and usually these types of people find themselves being manipulated, controlled or put in a position where they compromise their relationship with God for the approval of men. We need not to seek popularity with man because when we aim to please God He will cause for us to be favored by man and even in other cases He will cause you to understand that you are accepted by Him and in these times not all will be accepting even of His Word. The Lord has clearly created us in His image and therefore we should be like unto Christ who sought not the approval of man when here in the flesh but rather stay fixed/settled on pleasing His Father. Now even though this might seem a bit contrary though it is not, the Lord will by His Spirit when we are obedient and led by Him cause for us to do things the way He would have for us to even in pleasing our neighbor without the expense of sacrificing or compromising our walks with Him. So let us be aware and attentive to know that God pleasers are grace based people who do not seek approval out of insecurity or fear. God pleasers also seek to please and minister without fear of rejection or compromise, thus following after God with all of their hearts. We must put God first in all things. God needs to be priority in everything we do.We will experience great pleasure in our lives when we keep Him first and partner with Him in everything we do. I am learning that we need to establish priorities and boundaries and not allow for God to get our leftovers, but rather that we give Him the firstfruits of our attention, time and aiming to please. We must be honest with ourselves and examine who and what we are pleasing also keeping in mind that our God is a jealous God and have no one to be placed before Him.  Trust me when I say that I too have even most recently struggled with balance with God, family, ministry and just personal time for me(oops did I say me) honestly I'm sure everyone feels that there comes a time where we do need time for ourselves. So my brother this comes from the heart from a sister to a brother/sister in Christ let us not become sooo boggled down with having an improper balance of pleasing others or ourselves but rather let us seek God first in All things that there may be a balance and an order to everything we say and do.