People Pleasing Is Idolatry

In review of Galatians 1:10 it says, “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.”

Bottom Line:

Do not try to please people, instead try to please God. If pleasing people was your goal, then you would not be Christ’s servant.

What this means to me:

I am to not concentrate on pleasing people, instead, my focus should be on pleasing God. I can’t please people and be Christ’s servant. In life, I really only have to please one person. And that is my Creator. I only have to please the Lord, the one who made me and has a purpose for my life. Knowing this simplifies life greatly. I only really need one person’s approval: God’s.

Jesus said it like this in John 5:30: “I don’t try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me” (NCV). He basically says, “I’m living for an audience of one.”

What I’m learning is that pleasing people is a form of idolatry. The first commandment in the Ten Commandments is, “Don’t have any gods before me.” Anything I put before God becomes a god. So, my career could be a god. My hobbies could be a god. Watching TV can be a god. Anything that becomes number one in my life that isn’t God, becomes your god.

The second commandment is, “Don’t make any idols.” Anything that replaces God in my life is an idol. Success can be an idol. Money can be an idol. A relationship can become an idol. If any of these is more important than God, it’s an idol.

So trying to be a people pleaser, allows something other than God to take first place in my life. All of a sudden it becomes god in my life. I do this because their opinion matters more than God’s opinion. What they think of me matters.

So what I need to remember is that, in life I only have to please one person. Paul says in Galatians 1:10, “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).

Today I will consider what things I’m allowing to become an idol, above God, and then refocus my attention and energy on Him.