People Pleaser or God Pleaser

In God, whose word I praise-

     in God I trust and am not afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?

  Psalm 56:4

Do you seek the approval of others? This can be a very conflicting and exhausting lifestyle. One minute those around you love you and sing your praises, but the next, the crowd is angered by your choices. So, you change your mind to please the crowd. You may have an opinion, but you never really share it because it may cause others to withdraw their acceptance of you. After awhile, you may no longer even have opinions because you ping pong from idea to idea based on those around you. 

I used to live this way. I did things to keep the peace around me. I chose to go with the flow even when it didn't make me happy and sometimes even caused harm or discomfort to myself or others. Acceptance by others was tiresome. It caused me to lose myself and I found that if I had to make a decision for myself I couldn't do it.

At some point, this lifestyle exhausted me. I chose to get in the Bible about various issues because I'd lost all perspective. In reading God's Word, I found that He's the only one I need to please. If I'm living to please my Lord, others may be offended, but my peace no longer waivers. Others may want me to spend my time or money on certain things, but as long as I'm following God's lead, their unhappiness with me doesn't sway me to change my decisions. 

Friends, when our trust is in God, when our focus is on pleasing our Lord, our life is peaceful. Oh, yes, someone may be upset with us, but their displeasure is because we didn't make them or their activity our god. Choosing to please God over man brings peace, but it also brings out your God-created self. You are free to be who he made you to be. It brings a new energy and a new perspective. He made you unique. You are different by design. Embrace who you are because of whose you are! Ask yourself this today, "Am I a people pleaser or a God pleaser?" Seek to please God alone and he will take care of the rest!