Devotional We Can’t Please All the People All the Time

[SC Facilitator]

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10 (NIV) ​

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Source: We can't please all the people all the time | Lysa Terkeurst (Proverbs31.org) Excerpt: ...I struggle with people-pleasing. For years I’ve had to face the reality of being a “yes” woman even when I didn’t have the capacity or honestly the desire to do what others were asking of me. And if I’m really honest, it often wasn’t purely out of love for people that I would stretch myself way too thin. It was because I couldn’t figure out how to manage the fear of what disappointing them would cost me. this people-pleasing struggle made me the perfect candidate to resist boundary-setting and to view any kind of boundaries as unkind. But the problem is that if we live allowing other people’s opinions to define who we are, we will be desperate to try and control people’s perceptions of us. We will spend our lives managing opinions to ensure they're always favorable toward us so we can feel good about ourselves. Our key verse today points out this issue: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10) It’s impossible to please all the people all the time. We know this. Until we forget — especially with people whose opinions affect us. So when we disappoint people, think differently than they do, don’t do everything they think we should do, or try to draw boundaries they don’t agree with, I’ve failed to realize until now: All people have limits — physically, financially, relationally, emotionally. We are all limited. Only God is limitless. People-pleasing will tell you that drawing boundaries means you’ve failed. But I think drawing boundaries means you’ve had the beautiful, biblical revelation that only God can meet everyone’s needs. (Philippians 4:19) Love should be what draws us together, not what tears us apart. And I’ve seen how much boundaries help with this in my own life. “God’s love isn’t based on me. It’s simply placed on me. And it’s the place from which I should live … loved.” Live loved today, friend.

 

[LeeB]

All who live Godly in Christ Jesus will suffer from some form of persecution. Jesus was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. Jesus offended many people because he told them the truth. If we try to be a friend of the world we make ourselves an enemy of God. We must come out from among them and be separate, touch not the unclean thing and God will receive us. We must take up our own cross and follow Jesus. This is not easy, it is hard, it may seem impossible, but all things are possible with God. Anything that has ever been done to you Jesus experienced that and even more. Count it a joy and an honor that you can share in his sufferings.