The Dangerous Trap of People-Pleasing

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"You can please some of the people all of the time, and you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.”  Abe Lincoln  

Old Abe knew what he was talking about. People-pleasing is a dead end. 

We should to be kind and gracious to others, but we cannot make popularity our goal.

"Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe." Proverbs 29:25

In addition, Christians need to realize that our faith in Christ will never make us popular.

Jesus warned us: "You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved" (Matthew 10:22).

Paul understood this: "If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). 

When we focus on people-pleasing, we always lose our way.

The biblical cure: "find out what pleases the Lord" (Ephesians 5:10).   

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Bible Love Notes

You Are What You Eat

When it comes to our spirits, we become like the things we “eat.” 

If we fill our minds with “cultural junk food” or false teachings about Scripture, our thoughts become confused and ungodly. And this eventually affects our actions. 

If we fill our minds with God's wisdom and truth, our thoughts become wise and eventually our actions do too. 

That’s why Jesus said, “Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

That’s why the Psalmist said, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” (Psalm 119:103)

That’s why David said, “Taste and see that the LORD is good,” because His decrees “are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb” (Psalm 34:8; Psalm 19:10). 

“Know also that wisdom is like honey for you: If you find it, there is a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.” Proverbs 24:14

Perhaps Jeremiah put it most deliciously: “When your words came, I ate them; they were my joy and my heart's delight, for I bear your name, LORD God Almighty.” Jeremiah 15:16

Let's feast on God's Word!

🍩 Spiritual Junk Food can be found in the church and in the world. Let's fill our minds with the Whole Food Gospel and not Spiritual Spam. 

🍓 Did you know that Bible Love Notes has a whole collection of Scriptures and 1-minute devotions based on food analogies? Check it out here: Food for Thought. Why not go through it with your small group or Bible study?

 

Bible Love Notes  

Denying the Obvious

In this series, I'll discuss three deceptions used by false teachers, all of which require a low view of God's ability to communicate. 

To believe any of these false teachings, you must conclude that the Holy Spirit guided Bible authors to write statements that would mislead believers throughout church history.

Deception #1: Denying the Obvious

This deception is used frequently by false teachers, so let me give you an example that has become increasingly popular in the last few years:

“God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Romans 1:26-27

This passage is absolutely clear in the Greek and it's translated accurately in all legitimate English translations—God calls same-gender sexual acts "shameful" and "unnatural." It is against His design.

However, gay revisionists deny the obvious meaning and claim that God is only against same-gender sex if heterosexuals commit it. They believe God approves of same-gender sex for homosexuals because it's "natural" for them.

God is an excellent communicator, and every mention of homosexuality in Scripture is strongly negative. God places great emphasis on our sexual conduct. He would never communicate so poorly about something so important to our souls (1 Corinthians 6:18).

Beware of any teaching that denies the obvious meaning of a passage and/or gives exceptions not found elsewhere in Scripture!

I encourage you to read another devotion explaining 7 reasons this gay revisionist teaching of Romans 1:26-27 is un-biblical: Natural and Unnatural Interpretations. Why do you need to understand these false teachings? Because they are growing in popularity and Christians should be prepared to handle them wisely and biblically (1 Peter 3:15).

Bible Love Notes

3 Sins of a Fool

In 3 Ways to Identify a Fool and 3 More Aspects of Foolishness, we looked at 6 characteristics of foolishness explained in the book of Proverbs. Let's look at 3 more, remembering that we must guard our hearts against foolishness.  

1. Fools deceive themselves and others.

“The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.” Proverbs 14:8 

“Those who trust in themselves are fools, but those who walk in wisdom are kept safe.” Proverbs 28:26

“The folly of fools is that being self-deceived, they think they can deceive God and man to their own advantage.” (Source) 

See 3 Paths to Self-Deception.  

2. They don't learn from their mistakes.

“As a dog returns to its vomit, so fools repeat their folly.” Proverbs 26:11

What a vivid description! It's similar to the old saying “insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”  

See Learning from Our Mistakes. 

3. They refuse to repent. 

“Fools mock at making amends for sin, but goodwill is found among the upright.” Proverbs 14:9 

“A longing fulfilled is sweet to the soul, but fools detest turning from evil.” Proverbs 13:19 

This is perhaps the characteristic that fuels every other act of foolishness, and it's a foolish thing that many people do. Repentance restores and refreshes us. Refusing to repent foolishly keeps us from fulfilling God's purposes in our lives. 

See 4 Things that Happen when we Fail to Repent.  

Check out the Bible Love Notes collection of 1-minute devotions about Fools, including this series and more. 

 Bible Love Notes

The Relevance of God's Word

The more I study Scripture, the more I appreciate its timeless relevance.

2 Corinthians 4:1-6 is a perfect example—great instruction for "shining" in the midst of the compromise and false teachings of our times.

 

1. Be encouraged in the Lord! (1)

“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.” ~ verse 1

 

2. Maintain pure motives. (2)

“We have renounced secret and shameful ways...”  ~ verse 2

3. Share Scripture accurately. (3)

“We do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God.” ~ verse 2

 

4. Understand the opposition.

“If our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel...” ~ verses 3-4

5. Promote Christ. (4)

“What we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord...” ~ verse 5

6. Shine His light. (5)

“God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”  ~ verse 6

Let's find comfort and guidance in this passage, dear Christians. And let's keep shining for the Lord!

💙💙💙💙💙💙💙💙

(1) Check out Bible Love Note's collection of 1-minute devotions To Encourage the Discouraged. 

(2) See Right Thing, Wrong Reason.

(3) See Context Adds Clarity and 5 Ideas for Studying the Bible.

(4) Promoting Christ means promoting the whole gospel, Not Just the Easy Parts. Christ inspired the whole gospel, not simply the "red letter" quotes in Scripture. See To Trust Christ's Words, You Must Trust the Whole Bible.

(5) See Matthew 5:14-15.

 

 Bible Love Notes