Pleasing God and Persuading Men

SCRIPTURE: Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.

APPLICATION: Paul asks two questions here: 1) Who do I try to persuade, men or God? 2) Who do I try to please, man or God?
These are very important questions. You really couldn't call Paul a people-pleaser by any stretch of the imagination. He seemed to stir up trouble with people wherever he went. He was always stepping on people's toes. He faced the supporters of the goddess Dianna in Ephesus. He faced the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. He even confronted Peter to his face. He definitely was not a people-pleaser.
Nor was he a God-persuader. He didn't manipulate God to fit his needs. When he asked God three times to remove his thorn in the flesh and God said, "No," he submitted and said, "Now I will glory in my affliction."
Paul sought to please God, not people. Paul sought to persuade people, not God. Paul had it right.

OBSERVATION: These two things are easy to mix up: Pleasing God and persuading people; not pleasing people and persuading God.

• God is the One that we serve. He is the only One we need to please. It is His opinion alone that counts. He needs to be the motivation for my action. He is not compromised or negotiated.
• People are the ones to whom we bring the message. People and popular opinion are fickle and always changing, but can be very compelling. There is a strong desire to please people -- but how can we persuade them if we seek to please them?

God's opinion, not popular opinion, is what really counts. Changing people to come to God, not changing God to fit for people, is the only way to make a real difference.

PRAYER: Father, keep me from the people-pleasing trap. I know that I am drawn to it. Amen.