People Pleasers

“Am I now currying favor with human beings or God? Or am I seeking to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ” Galatians 1: 10

Are you a people pleaser?

I think a lot of people are. We try so hard to look the right way, talk the right way, do the right things—put ourselves into positions where we are noticed. We worry about what people will think of us and if we will be acknowledged or rewarded for our hard work and efforts. But at what cost and for what prize?

So many teens keep texting and chatting and adding more facebook friends, hoping that in the end, they are found worthy. So many put photo after photo of themselves online just hoping that someone—anyone—will notice and say they are beautiful.

In the end, trying to be a people pleaser leads us deeper and deeper into narcissism. And the more narcissistic we become, the unhappier we are. But the biggest problem with trying to please people is that we become less concerned about pleasing God. We stop living in righteousness, because it makes us unacceptable to our peers. We stop trying to speak the Truth because people accuse us of being “intolerant.” We decide it is easier to be permissive and popular than to truly love others and ourselves.

In the end, we sacrifice our very selves and begin to transform, like a chameleon, into anything that we think anyone else needs or wants us to be at any given moment. But you know what? Even when we are ignoring God and trying to please others, He miraculously still loves us and desires us. Even while we spend most of our time trying to fit into the world, God is still chasing after us. As CS Lewis once said, “If God were proud He would not have us on these terms: but He is not proud. He stoops to conquer, He will have us even though we have shown that we prefer everything else to Him, and come to Him because there is "nothing better" now to be had."

Isn’t that amazing? Even then, God still stoops down to us to conquer us with His love. May we live in this knowledge and desire to please Him more than people so that His efforts are not in vain.

Dear Jesus, please help me to stop trying to please others and begin trying to please You. Give me the grace I need to seek righteous and Truth above popularity and accolades. Amen.