God Approval

Scripture: "Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts."1 Thessalonians 2:4

Observation: Our daily desire or goal should be to please God. Often we set out to do a task, to serve, go to work and we are trying to please people. We want to impress our friends, our neighbors, our boss, strangers or we want to live up to their expectations. We want them to approve of us. Our end result is seeking people approval. Paul is telling us that our purpose...our goal...our desire is to please God. When I do this, my days are so much easier...less stress...peaceful and joyful. I have spent most of my life trying to live up to what I thought others wanted me to be...and that is hard work! It is tiring.

At church on Sunday we were singing a worship song and there was a verse that said "In all I do, let me bring praise to You". That has been my prayer today...in ALL I do I want to bring praise to God...to please Him and not people. It is amazing how many times I have caught myself today trying to "impress" even strangers...

Application: It is almost a habit to seek the approval of people our world is in constant pursuit of "people approval". My desire is to commit my day to the Lord each morning and throughout the day. My desire is to catch myself when I am trying to live up to others expectations, change my habit,and put my attention on who God is. My desire is to seek God's help each day to stop seeking the approval of people and to seek to bring praise to Him in all I do. All I do...family, speech, decisions, friends, strangers...

Prayer: Lord, today I have come to do your will. Lord, direct my steps. Show me which way to go...Reveal to me when my motives are wrong. Lord I seek your approval and I lay down my need to have the approval of others. Lord, help me accept myself for who you created me to be. Thank you Lord for your love, forgiveness, patience, and constant presence in my life.

Let's be on the pursuit of seeking the approval of God and not people...

This form of journaling that I learned that is called SOAP. S=scripture, O=Observation, A=application and P=prayer. A simple way of reading the Word and diving into scripture. You may have already learned it, but if not give it a try and see how you like it.

In love,
Teresa