“I saw the people slipping away from me.” 1 Samuel 13:11 NRSV
“Pleasing others all the time is an unreasonable goal and an imposing task.”
My thoughts today are about “well done.”
Of course, you want approval; who doesn’t? You truly need a healthy dose of affirmation and approval to grow, becoming secure and confident. When a child says, “Mom, look what I drew,” they are expecting approval, not criticism or disinterest. A student shows their teacher the work they have done, expecting praise and approval, not endless correction.
The problem comes not from your need for approval, but from looking for that in the wrong place. Ultimate approval comes from God. His “well done” alone will make your life complete. He made you, loves you, and redeemed you, and He best knows what you are capable of doing and becoming. God looks for ways and times to express His pleasure over you.
God places people in your life who are an important and proper source of His approval. When you do not receive approval and affirmation from the right places, you will be tempted to look for it some place, and usually find it in the wrong place. “Don’t work only in order to please men, but as servants of Christ, do God’s will from the heart. Render service with a good attitude, as to the Lord and not to men.” Ephesians 6:6-7.
Everyone wants to be liked by everyone else, but that is not realistic and can come at too high a price. Pleasing others all the time is an unreasonable goal and an imposing task. The price usually means compromising something of what you know to be right or best. When you are always worried about having other people’s applause or approval, that reveals that others’ desires matter more to you than God’s pleasure, and results in your not truly being yourself.
The need to gain others’ approval whatever the cost, ultimately leads to pleasing no one very much, or very well, or for very long. A friend who would press you to do something that you would not want to do, or be something that you really are not, is not really a friend at all. Please God. “Present yourself to God as approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed.” 2 Timothy 2:15 NIV. Those who really matter in your life will be easy to please. Pleasing everybody else is what’s hard, even impossible.
Here’s King Saul’s sorry excuse for disobeying God, “I saw the people slipping away from me.” 1 Samuel 13:11 NRSV. He feared losing the favor and following of the people more than he valued God’s approval. That is always a slippery slope to sure failure. Saul did not learn his lesson. Even when he later admitted disobeying God again, he still was more concerned with being honored before the people than to have the approval of God. Read 1 Samuel 15:13-30 NKJV. Saul made a tragic choice and the results were catastrophic, personally and spiritually. Fearing he would lose something, he acted foolishly and lost everything. He forfeited God’s anointing, eventually lost his rulership of the nation, and ultimately lost his life.
The Bible’s wise counsel is both simple and practical: “It is better to obey God than man.” Acts 4:19. Live in such a way that you will hear God say, “Well done, good and faithful servant . . Enter into the joy of the Lord.” Matthew 25:14-30 NKJV.
My prayer for you today is that you will be assured of God’s approval.