Wednesday 9 January 2013

WHO TO PLEASE


READ: 1 PETER 1:15-16

“No man that wars entangles himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who has chosen him to be a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:4).
People who are sanctified seek the best way to please their heavenly husband. They know that they have been chosen by God, and that their allegiance is therefore to him. To please God, you have to find out about the things he loves and the things which make him happy, not like some people who claim to be sanctified, but who are interested more in pleasing men.
“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10).
If your life revolves around the likes and dislikes of people at the expense of God’s preferences, then you are not sanctified. This is true for every area of your life. For instance, when you dress, who do you please? Do you dress in expensive clothes so that people will think you are successful, or do you simply dress decently and according to the occasion? Ladies, do your outfits expose more of your body than is appropriate? Do they cause men to battle with lust and immoral thoughts, or do they glorify God?
Some Christians, long after they have been redeemed, still use fellow Christians as their standard. That is why they remain spiritually immature. God is our standard. 1 Peter 1:15-16 commands us to be holy as God is holy. The more we walk with God, the more likely we will need to work on ourselves. The closer we get to God, the dirtier we appear. This is why truly sanctified people will never become proud. Only the ignorant boast of themselves and their accomplishments. Those who know God; are quiet and if they boast, they boast in the Lord, about his power and ability, and not their own.
Are you still struggling with pride? How close are you to God?   

MEMORIZE: GALATIANS 1:10 –For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.