Key Verse
“All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
(Mark 13:13)
Central Truth
Our goal as children of the God of the universe should be to please Him, not each other.
THE PURPLE PEOPLE PLEASER
Are you a people pleaser? You can tell the truth here . . . . It’s okay. Does the idea of someone not liking you send a shiver down your spine? Knowing that you have five other things to do today, if someone asks you to help them with something, is it almost physically impossible for you to say the word “No”? And if you do, are you racked with guilt for hours or days?
If that’s you, I have great news for you today: you CANNOT please everyone. Someone WILL take something you say and twist it and take it out of context. There WILL be a person who will take offense at something you say . . . even if you meant it for good. At some point, somebody WILL think that you are too nice . . . or not nice enough. So . . . how is that great news? Because now you can stop striving to please everyone and release all that stress and pressure. It just can’t be done.
This is especially true for a Christ-follower. Jesus warned His disciples in this passage that they will not make everyone happy. In fact, He went as far as to let them know that people would “hate” them. That’s about as far from making people happy as you can get, right? He also guaranteed that the disciples would be beaten and thrown in jail, just for talking about Him. He used phrases like “You WILL be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues” and “WHENEVER you are arrested and brought to trial . . . .” Following Jesus will not win you any popularity contests, that much is certain.
Let’s just be honest for a second. Jesus is offensive to those that don’t know Him. His Word is offensive: "Behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." (Jeremiah 6:10) But, when what Jesus says gets into our hearts and sets us on fire(Jeremiah 20:9), we have no choice but to speak His Word! We can’t hold it in! So if we have to speak about Jesus, we can be sure that there will be people who aren’t going to like us. But really, who are we trying to please here? What is more important, our reputation as a “yes man/woman” or Jesus’ name? Paul said “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.” (Galatians 1:10)
So take a deep breath and relax all you people pleasers! You won’t be able to please everyone you come in contact with today, tomorrow, or ever. But you can listen to His Word and do what He says. If you do that, Jesus WILL be pleased with you. And in the end that’s really all that matters.
“All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
(Mark 13:13)
Central Truth
Our goal as children of the God of the universe should be to please Him, not each other.
THE PURPLE PEOPLE PLEASER
Are you a people pleaser? You can tell the truth here . . . . It’s okay. Does the idea of someone not liking you send a shiver down your spine? Knowing that you have five other things to do today, if someone asks you to help them with something, is it almost physically impossible for you to say the word “No”? And if you do, are you racked with guilt for hours or days?
If that’s you, I have great news for you today: you CANNOT please everyone. Someone WILL take something you say and twist it and take it out of context. There WILL be a person who will take offense at something you say . . . even if you meant it for good. At some point, somebody WILL think that you are too nice . . . or not nice enough. So . . . how is that great news? Because now you can stop striving to please everyone and release all that stress and pressure. It just can’t be done.
This is especially true for a Christ-follower. Jesus warned His disciples in this passage that they will not make everyone happy. In fact, He went as far as to let them know that people would “hate” them. That’s about as far from making people happy as you can get, right? He also guaranteed that the disciples would be beaten and thrown in jail, just for talking about Him. He used phrases like “You WILL be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues” and “WHENEVER you are arrested and brought to trial . . . .” Following Jesus will not win you any popularity contests, that much is certain.
Let’s just be honest for a second. Jesus is offensive to those that don’t know Him. His Word is offensive: "Behold, the word of the LORD is unto them a reproach; they have no delight in it." (Jeremiah 6:10) But, when what Jesus says gets into our hearts and sets us on fire(Jeremiah 20:9), we have no choice but to speak His Word! We can’t hold it in! So if we have to speak about Jesus, we can be sure that there will be people who aren’t going to like us. But really, who are we trying to please here? What is more important, our reputation as a “yes man/woman” or Jesus’ name? Paul said “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.” (Galatians 1:10)
So take a deep breath and relax all you people pleasers! You won’t be able to please everyone you come in contact with today, tomorrow, or ever. But you can listen to His Word and do what He says. If you do that, Jesus WILL be pleased with you. And in the end that’s really all that matters.
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