Galatians 1 NLT
Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant. (v. 10)
Some people are just plain cantankerous and love to argue for the sake of argument. Being argumentative and belligerent is not something that the Bible condones. However, there does come a time when one has to take a stand. We should pray for wisdom and make sure that the “hill is worth dying on” first, but there are times when we must dig our heels in and stand for what is right. When Paul says he is not trying to please people but God, he doesn’t mean that people are unimportant. People are very important and we mustn’t forget that. Later, Paul will say, “Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” (Col. 4:6 NLT)
Paul’s point is that pleasing people is not the goal; pleasing Jesus is the goal. If we are Christ’s servant we must obey Him no matter what others are saying, but we try to do that in a way that brings people along with us if possible. If you are truly the servant of Christ, then pleasing Christ is the goal. You cannot please all of the people all of the time. We know that, and we have heard that for years, but we still find ourselves stuck trying to please everyone. Put God first and please Him, and He will take care of the opinions of everyone else. You serve an audience of one, and serving Him will help you weather the opinions of others. You might not be the most popular or the most loved, but you will likely be the most respected, because authentic love and dedication to Christ are rare and contagious.
