The Word - Feb. 21, 2012 - PLEASING GOD

"It should be obvious, (says Paul), 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" (Galatians 1:10).

The vast majority of people live to please themselves, even among believers in Christ. The lament of the great Apostle is even truer today: "All seek their own, not the things which are Jesus Christ's (Phil. 2:21).

The Bible teaches plainly that it is the highest privilege, not a burden, to live your life to please God. Yet it is so very difficult to find believers who understand that they are servants
of Christ; that the very purpose in life is to do God's will and so please Him.

The message from the Lord, in His Word is very clear that the focus of the life of the believer is not to be herself or himself, but Christ, not just on the Lord's day, but every day and all through life. In order to emphasize this truth we need only look at the life of Christ Himself.

In John 8:29 we read: "I do always those things that please Him." Don't we all wish we could say that? Alas, we cannot, and therein lies our problem. If we are truly born again and have the Spirit of God within, we should want to follow in our Savior's footsteps, desiring to imitate Him in every way.

Listen! I do not have permission to live my life to please myself; and neither do you. This new security we have been given was bought with a price, even the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Word declares to us all, "You are not your own person; you have been bought with a price, even the precious blood of Jesus Christ."

We must believe God, which is not the same as believing in God. It means we are to trust Him implicitly, completely, to put Him first before emotions, logic, family, tradition, and regardless of what other people say or think. So the question is: Are we living to please people or God?