Who are we trying to please?

“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
Galatians 1:10

I’m a people pleaser…
it’s in my nature.

Many of you are the same way.
It doesn’t mean that you do whatever you’re told and you’re a doormat for society.

A people pleaser means that you don’t want to let anyone down when you’re given a task to do…so you go the extra yard in order to ensure a harmonious outcome.

This can be a very good trait.
These are the people you want to hire for your business, just so long as they can complete their tasks without taking years to do them. These types are akin to task-oriented peacemakers.

On the flip side you have people pleasers who sell themselves out for the sake of making people happy.
They fall in line with a boss or leader and run over other people in order to keep “the man” happy. They’re usually willing to abandon truth in order to get ahead…revealing their lack of righteous integrity.

Paul was not a people pleaser of the latter sort, but he easily could have been.
He could have “gone soft” with his preaching and turned political. He could have easily been a diplomat and a “man for all people”, working to smooth things between Jew and gentile.

But he didn’t.
He told the people straight truth…Jesus Christ is the Lord, and He changed my life.

Paul wanted to please God.
We should follow his example.

The mission to share truth and please God is more important than winning an argument or making friends.

“Be ye followers of me,
even as I also am of Christ.”
1 Corinthians 11:1

Are you a people pleaser?
If so, to what end?
We should always work hard to do things right and live peaceably with all men, but NEVER water these four things down:

1) Our testimony of salvation
through faith in Jesus Christ.
2) The Word of God.
3) The Gospel of Christ.
4) Truth.

Stay TRUE to God, walk by FAITH,
and you’ll PLEASE God.
(Hebrews 11:5)