Seize the Moment – Day 196
For People with People-Pleasing Tendencies!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Tuesday, September 29.
Do you struggle with people pleasing tendencies?
Paul declares of his life and prescribes for fellow followers of Jesus in 1 Corinthians 10:21-33, “So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved.”
At first glance, this teaching seems to be Paul setting an example of “people pleasing” that appears to be addicting on the best of days and maddening on the worst of days.
But, it’s not! Paul’s emphasis in this verse is not on “please everyone” as I have placed it for years, the emphasis is on “do all to the glory of God!” Just like in pronouncing the syllables in a word, it is important where we put the emphasis!
Yes, we are to be pleasing to people, but it is not our life ambition to seek their pleasure. As followers of Jesus, we don’t work for people even when people are our work; we work for God and His purposes for our life and this world! Jesus was not people focused in His earthly ministry. Rather, all that He did was according to God’s will and for God’s purposes; Jesus was God-focused even when people were in right in front of Him. Jesus was obedient and true to God which allowed Him to speak hard truths, love in the most honest of ways, and set people free from the deepest and most seductive sins within their hearts and souls.
Seize the moment and focus on glorifying God, not on the pleasing of people… If you mis prioritize these, there is a chance your life will be taken off course…