What will others think?

Read Galatians 1:10

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. (NLT)

Trying to please everyone is a recipe for pleasing no one. Paul was under attack from his readers who had seriously twisted the Christian message. He was not going to try a ‘softly,softly’ approach to them in order to get in their good books. He was going to rebuke them,and if it meant they disapproved of him,so be it. Pleasing people like the Galatians would mean displeasing God. And for Paul,that was no contest.

In many other areas of life we are tempted to shape our words and actions according to what others might think. We are frightened of displeasing them or disagreeing with them. We are frightened of what they might think of us if we tell them the deeper truths about ourselves and our lives. All this distorts our relationships and damages our integrity.

Of course we are to be sensitive to others and take their feelings into account. It is not as if we simply don’t care about what others think. It is rather that what they think is not the final determinant of how we speak and act. If it ever becomes like this,we bend with every breeze and change according to the person we are with.

What others think of us matters,but it doesn’t matter most. Trying desperately to please others leads us away from our overarching purpose: pleasing God.

Blessings
David Reay

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