Pleasing People

Pleasing People

The moment pleasing people becomes more important than pleasing God, their approval becomes your prison.

It is good to care about people. But when the fear of disappointing them becomes greater than the fear of disobeying God, something is wrong.

Saul discovered this the hard way.

Scripture

“Saul gave in and confessed, ‘I've sinned. I've trampled roughshod over GOD's Word and your instructions. I cared more about pleasing the people. I let them tell me what to do.’”(1 Samuel 15:24)

Explanation
Saul knew what God had commanded, but he allowed the people's voice to become louder than God's.

Earlier, we get a glimpse of how Saul may have struggled with significance. When people saw him prophesying, they asked

“What has come over him, who is nobody but the son of Kish?”(1 Sam. 10:11 AMP)

People saw the son of Kish; God saw the king He had chosen.

The Bible does not explicitly say that Saul's people-pleasing came from this earlier experience. But his story shows the danger of allowing people's opinions to determine your sense of worth.

Saul was king, yet he allowed the people to tell him what to do.

He had the position, but he still craved their approval.

Application
People-pleasing can sound harmless:

“I don't want to disappoint them.”

“What will they think?”

“I better go along with them.”

But when people's expectations conflict with God's Word, who gets the final say?

You may say yes when you should say no.
You may compromise a conviction to stay in someone's good books.
You may choose applause over obedience.

Saul chose the approval of people, and it led him into disobedience.

There is nothing wrong with loving people or wanting to please them. But you must never allow the desire to please people to become stronger than your desire to please God.

In Christ, your worth is not waiting to be confirmed by people. You are redeemed, accepted and made righteous through Christ.

Know who you are in Him, and you won't need people's approval to prove your worth.

You can love people without being controlled by them, listen to them without being ruled by them, and serve them without needing their applause.

Reflection
Whose approval has too much influence over your decisions?

Is there something God wants you to do that you are resisting because of what people might say?

Prayer
Father, help me to find my worth and security in You. Deliver me from the fear of people's opinions and give me courage to obey You, even when obedience is unpopular. Let pleasing You become more important to me than gaining people's approval. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Discussion Question
When does caring about people's feelings become people-pleasing?

Have a fruitful day.

(Dr.) Emmanuel Okoro
(aka Dr. Lift)

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