Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.
This verse draws a distinction between living for the approval of others and living for the approval of God. No bond-servant of Christ can ever continue to be a man-pleaser, for to do so is to discredit the Lord. We can live as servants, as slaves of others’ opinions of us. We can live today, tomorrow, and the next day constantly thinking about what others think of us, how others perceive us, and try to gain standing with others. But as long as we are slaves to others’ opinions of us, we will not be able to serve Jesus and we will not be able to please God. It’s not that when we please God and we serve Jesus that we don’t care about others. We love others as we love ourselves and we need to serve others. We lay down our lives for others. The Bible calls us to do things in relationship to others, but it’s not for their approval. There is a fine line present when we start looking to others and their opinions of us for our worth, our value, and our confidence. I would like to encourage everyone today…find worth, find value, find confidence, first and foremost in being a child of God. Be a servant of Christ and live to honor Him. Seek His approval and know that when you do, you secure your foundation for your own identity, worth, and value. You will not be pulled up and down by what others think or what you think others think about you. You won’t be on this rollercoaster ride that will inevitably take you on in this world feeling good about yourself if you think they think highly of you. Or feeling bad about yourself, if you think they think poorly of you. Don’t live like that. Live for the approval of God. When you do this, it will not just be good for you, but it will actually be good for others because you will not be self-serving in your relationship with them.
Spiritual Steve 