Yet at the same time many among the leaders believed in Him.  But because of the Pharisees they would not openly acknowledge their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue;  for they loved human praise more than praise from God.  John 12:42-43 NIV

We all love to be loved.  We all like to get that pat on the back or the “atta boy” for the job well done.  When we do something we like to be acknowledged.  The popularity of social media is probably largely due to the fact that someone can have hundreds of “friends” and their “friends” can “like” everything they say or do.  Sadly, I have seen people become upset with people in their life because they failed to “like” a photo or a comment this person said on social media.  I want you to think about something for a minute and I mean really think about it.  What if we were that intent on God liking everything we said and did.  Can you imagine how it would be to live in a world where people were intent on pleasing God with every thought that came into their head, every word that came out of their mouth and every deed that they did.  It would be heaven right?  We would literally live in this heaven on earth type of existence.  There would be no need for law enforcement, no need for prisons, no need for counselors.  We would all love one another, we would all be good to each other.  We would think more highly of others than we do ourselves.

Well, sorry to wake you from that dream, I was really enjoying it there for a minute myself.  But the reality of it is this, we seek approval from others. Even the person that says they could care less what others think, seeks the approval of a certain group of friends.  With the internet we can reach millions of people and seek their approval.  We hear of teens that are bullied via the internet and wind up committing suicide.  They were simply seeking the approval of their peers.

Praise God about seven years ago, He finally got it through my hard head that if he’s not happy with me, I’m not going to be happy.  No matter what others may think of me, it’s God that I need to please.  Now, I certainly don’t want to run around offending people just for the sake of offending people, but if my relationship with God offends you, so be it.  I am not going out of God’s way to make others unhappy.  As a matter of fact, I would like for as many people as I could possibly get to join me in establishing their own close relationship with God.  But if you choose not to do that, I am sorry.  I will pray for you.  I will not try to please you by doing things that you want me to do that goes against what God wants me to do.

Seven years ago, my husband accepted Christ as his savior and I rededicated my life to Christ.  We have learned during that time that our relationship with Christ will cost us some friendships, but that’s okay.  We are not working for praise down here, we are working for praise up there.

Above all things, I want God to be happy with me.  I want to please Him with the things that I think, say, and do.  Because in all honesty, no one else matters.  Now there is sort of a domino effect going on here.  You see if you seek to please God, your whole attitude changes.  You can’t have a nasty attitude and please God.  So, others will like the new you that serves God.  The trouble usually comes in when others want you to go drink with them or go do things that you just don’t do anymore.

So take a look at your life, are you striving to please God or striving to please people?  Oh, and if you are sitting on the fence, you know trying to please people and God, well let me tell you something.  I have been there, done that, and got the t-shirt.  It only brought me heartache.  God doesn’t want lukewarm Christians.  You can’t halfway do it.  You have to be all in.

The most important thing we can remember about our life here on earth is that it’s temporary.  We are working for eternity.  That’s forever people.  Forever is a very long time.  If you please people here, you may be the most popular guy on the planet for a while, but what about eternity?  This is a marathon, not a sprint.  We are training for eternity.

My prayer for you today is that you are striving to please God.  There will be times when we fall short, but  we serve a merciful God.  If you are having trouble with trying to please people, then call out to God for help that’s what He’s there for.

Have a great day!