International
Whose Approval Are You Seeking?
We're glad you like it!
Enjoying the content? You can save this to your favorites by logging in to your account.
Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Listen to the radio broadcast of Whose Approval Are You Seeking?
Download audio fileOne of the things you discover when you set your heart on following Jesus, is that the rest of the world is not going to be standing by and cheering you on. Far from it!
Not long after I became a Christian – a few decades ago now – the IT consulting firm of which I was a part owner, had the opportunity to bid for a rather large, government project in the developing world.
But the simple reality was, that unless you paid the bribes to the various officials, you were completely wasting your time in bidding. As you can imagine, as a brand new Christian I was faced with a real dilemma. And, can I tell you, I came under quite some pressure to compromise.
It happens in every corner of our lives, because when you decide to believe in Jesus, when you decide to follow Jesus, when you decide to live your life for Him, let me tell you, the world is not going to be all that happy with you.
They’ll criticise you, laugh at you, persecute you – whatever fits best at the time. You see, those people want you to believe that their way, is the way of freedom, of success, of enjoyment. The world wants you to believe that following Jesus somehow robs you of your freedom.
What do you believe? Who are you trying to please? Jesus, or all those naysayers around you?
Paul the Apostle, made a very clear decision on that question in his life:
Galatians 1:10 Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
People are so fickle. Have you noticed? Jesus did. That’s why we’re told, in John 2:23-25 that …
When he was in Jerusalem during the Passover festival, many believed in his name because they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part would not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to testify about anyone; for he himself knew what was in everyone.
At some point, in every corner of our lives, in every thought, every decision, every action, each one of us has decide, who are we’re trying to please?
People … or God.
And the way it tends to work, is that it’s not so much the big decision we make up front, that matters. It’s the little decisions that we make a hundred times a day, that together tell us who we’re really trying to please.
Come on, who are you trying to please with your life? Because if you’re still seeking human approval, if you’re still trying to please people, you wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.
That’s God’s Word …
Fresh … for you … today.
Comments