“For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.”
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭1:10‬ ‭HCSB‬‬
http://bible.com/72/gal.1.10.hcsb

I hope that you had an enjoyable time as you celebrated our nation’s independence yesterday. Yesterday’s blog spoke about our freedom through Christ. God gave us an opportunity for freedom through His son Jesus Christ. We don’t have to accept it, we have a choice to make .

We can choose to please men or we can choose to please God. It sounds like such a simple choice doesn’t it? But in these days, it’s not so simple. You see, all human beings are sinners. It’s our nature. Even good church going Christians can fall into sin if they don’t carefully guard their hearts and minds.

The devil is always looking for a way to trip us up. The closer we draw to God, the more we anger the devil and the more determined he becomes to draw us away from God. He can sometimes use fellow Christians to do just that. And this my friend, is where it gets a bit more complicated.

Let me see if I can simplify what I’m trying to say here. You see, the devil desires to pull us away from God and to thwart God’s plans for us. The easiest way for him to do this is through other people. So what I’m trying to say is this. When other people find themselves in a conflict and try to pull you into it, you should ask yourselves a few questions? First and foremost, am I absolutely sure that this person or these people are in the will of God? How do we determine this? As my former pastor used to say, inspect the fruit? Are they truly living for the Lord? Are they striving to please God and bring glory to Him? Or, are they asking you to support their own selfish motives? Are they trying to bring glory to themselves or to an organization other than the church? Are they asking you to pray about the decision they are making? Do you know that they are spending time in prayer and Bible study?  Do you see them supporting ministry efforts and supporting the work of God? Are they working tirelessly for the kingdom of God or are they working hard for a pat on the back?

If they are asking you to support their cause and draw you into a conflict, perhaps the most important thing for you to observe is how are they treating those with which they are having the conflict? Are they exhibiting Christ like behavior or are they gossiping, slandering, and mistreating others?

The Bible clearly tells us that we are to love one another.  If we want to please God, we must do just that. If someone asks us to turn against a fellow Christian, we then have to choose whether we are going to be enslaved to that person or persons or whether we are going to be a servant of God.

Sin quickly becomes a habit that’s hard to break. As you go through this day, choose carefully. People pleasing is a trap that may be easy to fall into and hard to get out of, so tread carefuly. Pray for God’s guidance and wisdom. Know that the person trying to bring you into conflict may be deceived by the devil and you may have to discern for yourself which path to choose.

As you go through this day walk carefully with the Lord, and have a great day!