PEOPLE PLEASER VS. CHRIST'S SERVANT. By Pastor Fernando

Scripture:
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. Galatians 1:10.

Observation:
Paul here is very clear about the tension that we will always endure between pleasing people and pleasing God. According to Paul’s choice of words, pleasing and serving must be clearly reconciled. When serving people, we will always fall in either two places: pleasing them, or displeasing them. In many occasions I could please people but with the possibility of being a bad servant. In other occasions I could displease people and still serve them well. Ideally we want to do both. So how can we reconcile this? The answer is in the principle of serving Christ before we serve men. If I serve Christ well, I will serve people according to His desires and plan for their lives, which in many occasions, will contradict the desires and plans people already have for themselves. In this conflict, we must choose wisely. We cannot be simply people pleasers. Above all things, we are Christ’s servants.

Application:
Serving people well cannot be influenced by a popularity contest. Very often, if we serve Christ first, our way to serve people will displease them. We will make decisions that will not fill their expectations. That’s why obedience to Christ brings all the emotions and personal opinions to one thing--to do what God requires from us. In the past I always had struggles between pleasing people and God. Many times I serve people poorly and lean on the side of making people happy. The consequences of those decisions have taught me that pleasing people doesn’t bring good outcomes in my life and in their lives. A tough challenge in my service is when people are not happy with the way I serve them. My allegiance to Christ is tested when some people are displeased with my service. What do I do? I need to stay strong in my conviction that I’m a Christ’s servant before anything else. i cannot compromise my service to the Lord because i want to make people happy. I need to have nerves of steel when tested in this area. And as i serve Christ, I will always champion for God’s very best in people’s lives, even when they don’t wants God’s best.

Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father, please help me to defeat my tendency of wanting to please people at the cost of serving you well. As a leader, I’m called to do you will even when some people feel unhappy about the decisions I make. Help me to lead in such a way that I can do both, serve you well and make people happy. Give me the perseverance to deal with people’s insecurities and to serve them well, even when they fight me back or when they question my motives. Make me more like You! Amen.