Galatians 1:10 “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.”
What comes to mind as you are picking an outfit to wear? What comes to mind when you get your results back? What is the reason behind the way you behave when you are with different people? I think the most common answer to these questions is ‘friends’ or ‘family’ etc. Lots of people tend to be people pleasers… changing themselves to match the ideal image of themselves that their friends, parents, relatives, and the society, etc. have set for them. Lots of people are burdened with the constant burden of trying to be there for everyone, saying, and doing what they want to see or hear. If you are one of these people, you’re not alone. But what does the bible say about this?
The context of the verse above is about Paul rebuking the church in Galatia for perverting the gospel of Christ. To pervert means to distort or corrupt something from its original meaning or state. The church in Galatia had been perverting the gospel of Christ and turning it into a different gospel. Once you turn it into a different gospel, it is no longer the true gospel anymore. Paul then declares to the church of Galatia, that if anyone was to preach to the people the gospel other than the one Paul had preached to them, they will be under God’s curse. But what has this got to do with the approval of man? In this passage, Paul is saying that the church in Galatia is changing the gospel of grace, not just for the sake of it, but changing it in order to please the people there, to give the people what they want to hear instead of the sharp truth of God’s word. Paul invites the church of Galatia to introspect themselves and ponder upon whether they are seeking the approval of man, or of God when they are preaching the ‘gospel’.
How does this apply to me?
We can always apply God’s word in our own lives. In this case, it might not be in the context of preaching the false gospel to please our friends, but this certainly will apply to our lives in our own contexts. You might have lied to your friends, or to your parents, perhaps to please them, or to make a good impression of yourself. You might say things that you don’t mean in order to make someone else happy. But whatever the context/case is, we are reminded to not seek to please man, but to strive to please God.
Why does this matter?
If we continually seek to please man, we will constantly be anxious and nervous for every second of our lives. We will be burnt out from trying to please everyone. We can’t always be there for someone at all times no matter what, and neither can people be with us at all times no matter what. We will never be able to satisfy everyone’s desires and needs, and we will be burdened with this for the rest of our lives.
The root of this problem?
We can’t just suddenly change into someone who only seeks the approval of God like that, this takes time, but to solve this issue, we need to understand the very root and heart of this problem. Think about it. The reason we like to constantly please people is because we think that if people are impressed by us, or we make them happy, then that will validate yourself as a person. We like to rely and depend on what people think about us to make us secure, and for them to think well about us, we need to please them.
So what?
Now that we know the root of the problem, we need to pray and ask for God’s help so that we may be able to strive to please God instead of man. We’ve heard about how trying to please everyone is tiresome, and a never ending burden, but Paul says ‘If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.’ If we are a child of God, we will be compelled to do what pleases God. Pleasing God can also bring us peace and joy However, we still need God’s grace to be able to seek to please him.
