Pleasing God Over People: A Reflection on Galatians 1:10

For am I now trying to persuade people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10 (CSB)

In context, this verse is Paul arguing with the Judaizers who had accused him of somehow watering down the Gospel. In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul writes that he is all things to all people if it brings people into a relationship with Christ (1 Corinthians 9:19-23). Paul was accused of catering to the Gentiles by giving them an “easy” route to salvation. Paul had separated the law from salvation, as Jesus had preached. In a Jew’s mind, there was no salvation without the law. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Paul’s only allegiance was to God. Paul never wavered that he had received the Gospel straight from Jesus. Paul never compromised on the fact that people did not manufacture the Gospel.

How does this all affect us today? Paul did not back down from these men in his defense of the Gospel. Paul’s only goal was to please God. In the same way, we cannot let the pressures of the world turn us away from what God has told us. People do not hold the key to our eternity, but God does. We desert God when we aim to please people over Him. We have a choice to make in this matter. We can follow God and receive eternity or allow ourselves to follow the whims of people with temporal influence. We must understand that we cannot live for this world and, simultaneously, for God. It simply does not work that way.

Prayer

Father, please give me the strength and confidence to live my life for you. Help me escape the world's temptations, which offer only temporal pleasures. I know that without you, I can accomplish nothing. Please help me not to be a people-pleaser.

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