Yep, you already know I staged this photo to look like I’m actually, “calling all the people pleasers,” lol. I’m extra, but for real, I’m talking to the people pleasers today. Why? Because sometimes I’m guilty of being one myself. I love pretty pictures, cute outfits, nice stuff, all of that, haha! There’s nothing wrong with living a blessed life, but it’s important to display yourself to people with good intentions and a humble heart. Seriously though, at times I subconsciously find myself trying to please the eye of others. It’s a natural thing to want to be liked or seen as appealing but, I’ve noticed so many actually LIVING to impress people!

First off, I’d like to remind you, people pleasing isn’t such a bad thing when you have pure motives and a good purpose. But, when you do absolutely anything, whether that be conversing with someone, or even just post a picture on Instagram, you should be doing it with their best interest in mind. Meaning, what you say and what you post should be affecting people positively, not making them stumble in their faith. As a Christian, things simply shouldn’t be done with selfish ambition.

Unfortunately, we are living in a “self-love” movement and selflessness isn’t common. Let’s be real, humility is just so rare to come by these days. Social media is a huge part of our culture and it’s really sad that a great amount of people get their validation from it. We tend to be more worried about “serving looks” to glorify ourselves rather than living to serve God with all of our heart.

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.

Paul wrote that and it’s powerful because His ministry wasn’t founded on people pleasing but only on pleasing God. He no longer cared what people thought because He has turned to be a servant of Christ alone. It simply states that if you’re goal is to please people, you can’t be a truly devoted servant of Christ.

James 1:6-8

But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.

In our world, it seems that people are mainly concerned with showing off their best stuff, capturing their most flattering angles, and posting all of the complimentary content. People are more focused on impressing others than they are about how they’re presenting themselves to God. Many people claim to serve Christ but look a lot like they live their life to serve people of the world. The difference is more noticeable than you think.

Who do you serve more, Christ or people?
Who do you want to have your attention?
Does the opinion of God matter more to you than the opinion of others?

James 1:11

The hot sun rises and the grass withers; the little flower droops and falls, and its beauty fades away. In the same way, the rich will fade away with all of their achievements.

Those things that other people have that make them “look” rich in the world’s eyes? They will fade. The beauty of their appearance, possessions and achievements will all fade away. When everything that the world says is beautiful is stripped away from you, what do you have left? It’s then that you realize that you wasted time envying temporary beauty when you could have been working on making your heart beautiful instead, something that will not fade, the one thing that God actually cares about.

Galatians 1:15-16

But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles. When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being.

Don’t you see? We were chosen by God long before we were chosen by people. It was God’s grace that converted Paul from a persecutor to a preacher. If Paul were to have stayed in his old religion of following the traditions and patterns that other people had laid before him, he would not have been able to fulfill His God-given calling.

Is your loyalty divided today? Are you more interested in pleasing the people of this world or the Lord of your life?

Galatians 2:19

For when I tried to keep the law, it condemned me. So I died to the law—I stopped trying to meet all its requirements—so that I might live for God.

What I’m saying is:

Just like Paul stopped trying to meet the requirements of the law, you don’t have to keep living to meet the requirements of “perfection” made by people of the world. You can’t live for people and for God simultaneously. Plus, living to serve and please God is so much more fulfilling than trying to please people. Following the path and opinions of others will leave you feeling defeated. If you do end up winning the approval of people, trust me, you don’t really win anything of worth. Leading a life of service for Jesus is rewarding, not only here on earth, but also in Heaven, aka the real #GOAL!

Galatians 6:7

As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.

Love & Blesings,

Hannah