Do you feel the internal pressure to constantly make everyone happy? Are you familiar with the anxiety and exhaustion that produces?

Well, the Bible has some encouragement for you. In Galatians 1, Apostle Paul asks one of the most profound questions in all of Scripture: Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? He already knows the answer for himself. The question is, do you know yours?

You see, here’s the trap. People-pleasing feels humble. It looks like kindness. It’s immediately gratifying. But underneath it is a heart that fears man more than it trusts God. And Paul says plainly that if you’re still trying to please everybody, you’re not a servant of Christ.

That stings because most of us live somewhere in the middle, one eye on God and one eye on the crowd. But the crowd will typically want something different from you than what God wants. That’s problem number 1. But even if you choose for that moment to gain their approval instead of God’s, you won’t have it long. Their approval shifts. Their expectations move. That’s problem number 2. You’ll never ultimately please them. It becomes like a game of Whack-A-Mole, and you’ll exhaust yourself trying to hit their next whim that pops up.

Beloved, gaining God’s approval is always the better choice. And His approval never shifts. It was settled at the cross. Jesus said, “It is finished,” (John 19:30). In Him, there’s no pressure, no anxiety, no exhaustion because the work is already done.

So when the pressure comes, and it will come, to please the crowd by softening the truth or shrinking back from your conviction or compromising to be whoever the room is pushing you to be, remember, Jesus should always receive the priority. You are first and foremost His servant. When you are in a situation where you can only please one person, let it be Christ!

Change begins in you!