Galatians 1:10 10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ. NIV
The great dividing line has always been, for whom we do; and for why we do whatever we do. Paul said the disqualification for serving Christ is the attempt to win the approval of men. The approval of men is diametrically opposed to the pleasure of God.
Paul’s case against the Galatian church was because they were being seduced into adding the Jewish Law onto their faith in Christ as if the Law would validate their belief. Nothing could be farther from the truth. The only validation of faith is faith in Christ and the resulting life that springs from such belief. No law or code or creed can improve on our relationship with Jesus – might score some points with the religious crowd but it earns us nothing with our God.
Last night my wife and I made an agreement that we would begin to prepare for the death of the other and we would accept our impending deaths as inevitable, and the parting as only temporary. In the meantime we would celebrate our love and our lives together, and continue to build on our relationship. She wants to have the words, “He ended well; he trusted God” put on the marker of my grave. To trust God is to lose the approval of most of mankind. God scares the crap out of most people. But He is trustworthy even in the most difficult times and even when everyone else is saying, Oh, c’mon man, don’t be so committed; you’re fine just the way things are! If my goal is the approval of men then it’s my disqualification from serving Christ.
Father in Heaven,
Everything I do is to be measured by the dividing line: why do I do what I do and for whom? I my answer is anything other than You, I’m wasting my time.
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