A Worthwhile Goal

Who are you working the hardest to please? Most children want to please their parents. Teens often want to please their friends, and some their parents. Students often work hard to please their teachers and professors (after all, they want to get an “A”). Most husbands want to please their wives and wives their husbands. Good employees work hard to please their employers. So, who are you trying to please?

Writing to Christians in Corinth, the Apostle Paul included this statement in his letter: we make it our aim to please him (2 Cor. 5:9). Paul’s ambition in life was to please Christ. This was the man who once was an enemy of Christ; one who at one time was more interested in pleasing men. Paul wrote: For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10). As a servant of Christ Paul desired to please Christ. That was his aim in life. Why? He had encountered Christ and he was never the same again. His passions had changed. His pursuits had changed. His purpose in life had changed. Christ had radically changed Paul’s life.

Have you encountered Christ? Have you come to know Him personally as your Lord and Savior? If so, the only One you need to aim to please is Christ. As we read the Bible we discover what pleases Christ. So, as we enter a new year, a worthwhile goal would be to determine to spend more time reading the Bible, getting to know the One who we should aim to please. And as we read, we’ll discover what He expects of children, husbands, wives, employees, and much, much more.