Who do you live to please?
There are many people in our lives that want us to live to please them--our parents, our friends-- but they may not be at the top of our lists.
There are other people in our lives that we should live to please--our spouse, our boss, etc.
Some would say you should only live to please yourself.
Look our for number one, grab the gusto, go for it...that's the emphasis of our culture.
So what's your answer? Who do YOU live to please?
The answer is pretty important.
The way you answer that is going to determine a lot--how much joy you have in life, how much peace you experience, how much contentment...
...it's also going to go a long way toward determining your behavior.
Will you do whatever your boss says, no matter how unethical it might be, in order to please him?
Will you compromise your morals and beliefs in order to please your friends and go along with them?
Will you sabotage your own health and sense of well-being in order to go placate your spouse?
Will you use other people in order to please yourself?
The truth is that we all live to please someone, whether we realize it or not!
How about this idea: Let's live to please GOD!
Seriously, the Word says that we should:
"Present your bodies to God--a living and holy sacrifice, the kind He will find acceptable." (Romans 12:1)
The Apostle Paul told his young apprentice, Timothy, that he should: "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth." (2 Timothy 2:15)
Paul also wrote the the Corinthians that they should remember: "Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body." (1 Corinthians 6:19-20).
Living to please God, rather than others enables us to follow Him more boldly.
As Peter said when threatened by the religious leaders: “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)
It's not only our bodies and our actions, but our hearts and minds.
As Jesus said, "You must Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind; this is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: You must love your neighbor as your self." (Matthew 22:37-39)
Living to please God frees you up from the tyranny of living to please others and the trap of living to please yourself.
Next time you're struggling with a decision, feeling torn about something you're being encouraged to do, or struggling to balance priorities, STOP!
Prayerfully ask this question: "What would please GOD in this situation?"
Then do it.
Living to please God will be hard at times, but it will result in freedom, consistency, peace and joy...and most importantly, it will result in the Glory of God!
Who are You living to please today?
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