Have you ever stopped to really think how there are nearly EIGHT BILLION other people that we share this planet with?
Let that sink in.
EIGHT BILLION.
Eight billion souls with their own lives, their own dreams and their own stories.
Yeah, that’s a LOT of people.
Did you also know that out of those eight billion people that we share this planet with that there’s not a single one of them that we should be aiming to please or seek approval from?
The only person that you should ever set out to seek approval from is Jesus.
He’s the only one who’s opinion of us truly matters.
If we are living lives that are pleasing to God and that brings Him glory and if those who also follow Jesus in your life recognize this in us then that’s a good sign that we’re on the right track. Of course, we can’t even do this without relying on Jesus Christ in the first place.
We can confirm whether or not we are serving Jesus well by reading the Bible and following the instructions that He has given us about how we ought to resemble Christ in everything we do.
He gives us all of the joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control we need in order to fully trust in Him and follow His will. (Galatians 5:22-26)
Other Christians in our lives will also be able to provide us with wise counsel so we should seek to have others keep us accountable and we should seek advice from others who love Jesus that we trust. It’s both wise, and Biblical, for us to listen to the advice of our brothers/sisters in Christ.
This isn’t something that I always found very easy as I was very prone to trying to please my peers growing up. Because I faced social rejection as a young child, I spent a lot of my teen and young adult years just doing whatever I could to fit in with what was deemed “acceptable”. You can read more about this on my blog post “Lonely No More”. After Jesus rescued me (Yep, He really saved me from a miserable path I was heading down) and over the years, it became increasingly clear to me that the only approval I ever needed to seek was that of my Father in heaven. Something I am still working on all of the time.
To keep us humble, it’s important to remember that we are never going to be able to perfectly follow God’s commands. Yes, that applies to Christians too. We all fall short of the glory of God and the only way for us to ever achieve righteousness is through Him who died for us.
It’s not our righteousness, it’s not our goodness.
None of it.
Any good that we ever do is from Him and from Him alone. Praise God that He gives us everything we need.
Praise God that if we do put Him in first in our lives then everything else will fall into place.
Praise God that when we put Him first in our lives, instead of ourselves, that we are able to serve others well, be filled with peace and live a life worth living.
Praise God!
“For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
Rejoice and Repeat 