I was reading through parts of Galatians today and didn’t get too far before I really felt God tug on my heart.
Galatians 1:10 says: Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
This is something that I’ve tossed around in my head quite a bit. I feel so many times that we as Christians do so much to please people with our works and our ministry. I really thought through being a true servant of Christ and how that is evident in my own life.
I am very much a words of affirmation type person. I like to feel appreciated and need encouragement when things get tough. But when its all said and done, is that my ultimate goal? Am I really doing things to please and glorify God? Or am I having the mind set of what will the people think of my ministry/good works?
I struggle at times with knowing where that balance is. Of course its good to want people to be happy and appreciate what you do. But I think that it sometimes becomes the only motivation as to why you do certain things. Part of that reason I think is because we get an immediate reaction from people. We can see them, hear them, feel them, and understand that we just got respected by them at that moment. Obviously we can’t physically see God, can’t always audibly hear him, and don’t always understand if he has affirmed what we do.
I am striving to just be confident in knowing that God is surrounding every work that’s done. When my mind needs an affirmation, I can trust in what God’s word says rather than what I physically need to hear/see/feel/ etc. Its amazing when you think of God smiling at you or shaking His head in laughter at something that happens. That has become my motivation now in everything work/ministry/good works, oriented areas.
