“For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10. Paul knew that it is often not possible to please both men and God. Obviously, that’s true for us today. Some people are pleased to hear certain parts of the gospel.  They like to hear about the love, grace and mercy of God. They like to hear about God’s forgiveness. They like to hear about the cross and the power of Christ’s blood.

But these same people are often not so pleased to hear about God’s wrath and judgment. They’re uncomfortable with hearing that receiving God’s forgiveness must be preceded by repentance, a change of will where someone decides to live for God, not self. People can be uncomfortable when they hear they must die to self, giving up sin in their life and saying no to those things they once found attractive. They’re uncomfortable hearing about the need for commitment and the consequences of being lukewarm. As Christians, there will be times when we cannot please men and God.  Make the choice to always please God, and he’ll always be pleased with you. And that’s all that really counts!