People Pleasing

Always trying to please people can be painful.

Ultimately some people won’t be happy with you or you can do something that irritates someone and they just don’t care for you after that.

Sadly as I reflect over who I am, I struggle with this. I never want to be unliked and in the past have compromised my stands on certain things because of this. Now this is nothing major like my faith of Jesus, but just small debates that happens with life. It’s hard for me at times to take a stance when I know it’s going to be unpopular.

As I contemplate who I am, I am trying to figure out what cause this in me, I have started reading through Colossians.

Some of Colossians 1:9-10…

“We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God.”

If my focus is pleasing people, I will always be let down. This doesn’t mean that people have the wrong intentions with life, but it pales in comparison to Jesus.

We (Christians) are trying to life a life worthy of the Lord. We are called to be holy as God is holy. Man, talk about falling short of this at times. Our goal is to please God in every way. The Bible Knowledge Commentary puts it this way, “Merely pleasing people is incompatible with being a servant of Christ.”

As I reflect over my own situation in life, am I trying to please people or God? How am I falling short of this and what do I need to do to change?

This is what I am reflecting on today, how about you?

Have a great day.

Not a blog about the ice water challenge pro’s/con’s and Michael Brown

No matter how small we are in the grand scheme of things, we can play a big role by doing a small thing. The ALS challenge, Michael Brown case and the ISIS/Christian persecution have weighed pretty heavy on my heart. I have spent a good chunk of time praying over these situations. It’s a work of art when we think outside ourselves and towards others. Yet could there be something greater then thinking of others?

One thing I love about Christianity is the focus not on me but others. Being a servant of Jesus is a rewarding thing and it doesn’t include getting a raise, degree or new better job. Yet the goal of every Christian is to please God with our lives, not ourselves or other people.

Paul shares this statement in Galatians 1:10, “Am I now trying to win the approval of humans 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.”

“If my goal was popularity, I wouldn’t bother being Christ’s slave,” (the first half of verse 10 in The Message). People accused the author Paul of teaching freedom from “The Law” in order to appeal to Gentiles. Paul bluntness was to show not pleasing men but God. If Paul was trying to win the appeal of the people, he wouldn’t try to call out those following false gospels.

Jesus calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves but the overall goal is to please God not people. There is nothing wrong with treating others with respect but the overall goal is Jesus. Why do I do the things, treat people with respect love and admiration? Jesus. Jesus is the underlining goal of the person I try to please with my life. I might be far from imperfect, I have many flaws yet I love Jesus and my goal with life is to strive to be more pleasing to Jesus everyday. Who are you trying to please?

Have a great day.

People Pleasing

If we aim to please our aim could be off.

Life can be a whirlwind adventure.

Sometimes you are doing great and other times you feel awful.

This can affect mentally just as much as physically, especially when your focus in life is pleasing others.

Pleasing other people is a hard task.

If we go for pleasing other people all the time, are we doing what we are called to do?

This is honestly a great struggle for me.

I hate the fact some people just don’t like me.

I try to get along with everyone, but it doesn’t always happen.

When we try to please everyone, sometimes we please no one.

It hurts to know some people just don’t like us.

Ever have that feeling?

It’s a daily dilemma, who are we trying to please?

Are we trying to please certain people?

As a Christian, the question comes up, are we trying to please God or men?

Our first thought is always God, but do our actions show this?

Jesus had a tremendous impact on some spiritual leaders of his time.

We can see this in John 12:42…

“Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him.  But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue.”

Fear overtook them, they believed in Jesus, his miracles, what he was doing, but they were scared of being tossed out of the spiritual building they attended.

They got scared and this is how verse 43 put it…

“For they loved praise from men more than praise from God.”

Ouch.

They wanted to please people over pleasing God.

It’s a daily struggle.

In the job world, you could be asked to do something against your morals, will you stand up for your morals even if it may cost you your job?

What if you left a group of your friends on Saturday night so you could be awake to go to Church on Sunday morning?

You might get some weird looks from your friends or classified as a bible thumper or Christian or a hypocrite.

How often do we do things to please other people instead of pleasing what we need to please?

Anyone can have faith when things are going good, it’s hard to have faith when your back is against the wall.

How will you respond when you face tough challenges, who will you choose to follow?

I struggle with this area at times and need to rely more on pleasing God and less on people.

What about you?

Have a great day.