People Pleasing

"If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ." -Galatians

This verse has been on my mind lately as I find myself constantly trying to please people. Not like a, "I will take out your 10 bags of garbage and let you walk all over me just so I can be in your presence," kind of people-pleasing, but a more hidden, more dangerous kind.

The kind that is sometimes disguised as service. The kind that silently plays over in the mind what kind of impression I left on someone compared to the one that I wanted to leave. The kind that derives satisfaction and approval from what I think others think of me.

Chances are, most of us do something, or a lot of things, in an effort to please people, or to at least please ourselves by feeling good about what we think others' perceptions of us are.

But it turns out it's impossible to please both God and man.

If my goal is to win the approval of my co-workers, it is impossible for me to be working for the glory of Christ and His reputation.

And if my goal is to earn the affection of man so that I feel validated, I am completely ignoring the truth of the Gospel, as if Christ died for nothing.

Because just like so many other things, people pleasing means adding to the Gospel.

But the story of the Gospel can surely stand on its own. Which is a good thing, because it means that, being confident of my salvation in Christ, I don't have to do anything to earn the approval of the God of the universe or anyone else.

-CK

*I apologize for any errors in advance. I wrote this from my phone. Check out http://nowisthedayof.blogspot.com/2011/02/gospel-irony-of-good-charlotte.html for more good reading on this topic.