Approval

DEVOTION

THE LETTER TO THE GALATIANS

APPROVAL

Gal 1:10

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

NIV

Just one verse which says it all about how we are to live as believers.  How much of our time do we spend trying to impress other people? It seems many try so hard to dress just right so as to look good. It appears some have to drive a certain type of car which denotes success. The amount of money spent on cosmetics is just an indication of how important our appearance is, either one's self-image or for the benefit of impressing others with our good looks, although “good looks” could be very subjective, no matter how much one applies to the face and hair. It is not about trying to make our face look better, but about making our heart look better. Man looks at the face, but God looks at the heart. Our true looks are expressed in our eyes and our attitude toward others. The only way for this type of appearance to happen is to have Jesus in our hearts and for us to be more concerned about pleasing him and people. However, because we do have Jesus in our heart, or rather the Spirit and are committed to having him have the influence upon our heart then we will have this loving, caring appearance emanating from our eyes and our speech will follow suit. As a result, we might well be having an influence on people, and in some sense giving them a sense of pleasure. But we are not seeking to win their approval. If we live for the approval or acceptance of others, then can we truly say we are a servant of Christ? That is the question we have to answer. Is it about being in the crowd? Is it about being accepted as one of the guys or one of the ladies? We have so many groups or little clicks in every aspect of life, even in the church. Are we concerned because we do not belong to any of those little groups? Nope, not a bit. We stand as we stand, as long as we stand with the Lord. However, just because we are not trying to win their approval and are asked to join their little band of brothers of the clan of sisters, does not mean we should be rude to them either. Because we are making every effort to live to please the Lord, then we simply love them all. Because we have Jesus we then should show that love in our expression and our words of kindness and encouragement. But let us always remember we are not about seeking their approval, but the approval of God.