How do you please God? The answer to this question will vary greatly depending on the background of who you ask. If they are from a very legalistic background, they will give you a list of rules of what not to do and what to do to please Him. With many religions, you will get a set of rules of what God expects. If they are from a very charismatic view, they will say it’s all about accepting His love. Both views are correct to some measure, but neither is completely correct.
The first requirement to please God is to have faith in Him. We must believe who He is and what He says. Hebrews 11:6, tells us it is impossible to please Him without faith. Faith causes us to relinquish our efforts to control our lives, and trust Him to lead us.
Hebrews 11:6 “But without faith, it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”
Second, we need to understand His grace. Grace is God’s love in action toward those who deserve the opposite, which is all of us. His grace gives us the ability to accomplish things we cannot accomplish in the flesh. Through His grace, we can overcome sin. While we must have faith to believe to become a child of God, it is His grace that grants our position as His child. We do not live a life of rules to earn merit, we live a disciplined life because we love him. The more we yield to His grace the more we receive.
Third, we need to trust Him. When we trust Him, it will be easier to obey. When we trust Him, we will understand that following His way for our lives is actually a protection for us. He knows what is best for us. He sees the future and knows all the pitfalls that can ensnare us if we yield to them.
Fourth, embrace the freedom to love and serve Him. It is not an obligation to keep, but a freedom to experience. Our salvation is a free gift. You can’t earn a gift, if you could, it wouldn’t be a gift. Jesus set us free from the burden of earning love. We don’t have to serve Him, we get to serve Him. Our love should flow freely to Him as we accept the free love He has extended. We are to be so thankful that we just can’t show Him enough how much we love Him. We will have the desire to please Him in all we do. The more we do, the more we want to do. Not out of obligation, but out of love. Obedience makes God happy and disobedience makes him sad, just like it would our earthly father.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Fifth, choose excellence! Don’t be a lazy Christian and take the attitude things are “good enough.” Nothing is ever good enough when I compare it to what He has done for me. Until the day we die, we should be striving to love more, seek Him more, and do more to exalt Him. We need to become so full of gratitude and love for Him, that we want to shout from the highest mountain, that we love Him.
When our love for Him creates a desire to please Him in all that we do, we will strive for excellence. However, it will not be a striving that is burdensome, but a joyous striving to reach the next mountain peak. There ought to be a joy that is like a geyser within you that’s pushing hard to get out until it breaks through the top. That kind of seeking to please is contagious. It will not only cause you to love God more, but it will cause you to love others more. With this kind of love, you will be fulfilling what Jesus said in Matthew 22:37-39, to love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself. This is the mountaintop of pleasing God.
Matthew 22:37-39 “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.”
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