Colossians 3:23(NLT)
“Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.”
As we embrace each new day, we should do so in prayer and thankfulness, and we should give our day to the Lord. To give our day to the Lord means that everything we do is led by the Spirit. This is the kind of heart and attitude we should have for our Heavenly Father. As our love for God deepens, we’ll want everything we do to please Him, even the small things. When we make up our bed in the mornings, it should be for the Lord. When we brush our teeth and groom ourselves, it should be for the Lord. When we nourish our bodies with food and drink, that should be done for Him as well. We must do everything for our wonderful and generous God, because it is only because of His goodness and love that we are alive and able to move throughout our days.
Through the Apostle Paul, God tells us in Romans 12:1(NLT), “1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.” We should be the ones begging God, but in this verse, He lovingly begs us to open the door wide open to Him so that He can lead, guide, and direct us to the more than abundant life He has made available through Jesus Christ. God wants us to live consistent with who we really are, and He pleads with us to give our bodies and all they contain to Him. He tells us that the way to worship Him is to make our bodies a living and holy sacrifice to Him, because this is the least that we can do for all that He’s done for us.
God has given us a destiny in Christ. He knows who we’re supposed to be, and He knows what is best for our contentment in life. He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 that He knows the plans He has for us, and they are very good plans because they give us a future and hope in life. His Will is for us to be blessed, and He tells us in Colossians 3:17(NLT), “whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father.” God tells us to follow the example of Jesus Christ, and to give thanks to Him through our blessed Savior. This is the way we should live our lives before God.
Our well of gratitude towards God should be deep, but many of our actions do not line up with that. Many of us are more obsessed with what other people think about us than we are about pleasing our Heavenly Father. I had a conversation with a friend about this. We were talking about all the money that people are spending on designer clothes and shoes, but they aren’t paying their tithes, not taking care of their bills, and not saving any money. They are not giving God all the glory, but they are trying to hog it for themselves by looking and acting the same way that society does. They are trying to imitate celebrities when they should be imitating Christ. I think my friend has the right attitude. She’s not trying to impress others by spending a lot of money on clothes or shoes, and she refuses to be overly concerned with the opinions of others. Pleasing God is her priority, and this should be our greatest goal in life.
The Apostle Paul said in Galatians 1:10 (NLT) says, “Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” People often make idols of other people, even to the point of worshipping them. This is a very dangerous and sinful action. If we’re serving the Lord and focusing on Him, we won’t have time to think about getting the approvals of others. We won’t waste our resources to look or dress in a way to make others think we’re more than we are. As God’s children, we must understand that there is a huge difference between pleasing Him and pleasing people. Everything in life is presenting this choice before us, and what we choose to do, think, and say on a daily basis is showing God whether we have the heart and the commitment to love and please Him.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Pleasing God Vs Pleasing People”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2023. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.