Do You Think More About Pleasing God than About Pleasing Yourself?

A short time ago I was reading a popular Christian author’s book about “desire,” the emphasis was on following the desires of your heart, i.e. not being afraid to pursue your dreams. Some time earlier I had been reading John Piper’s book “The Pleasures of God,” the emphasis on the things that PLEASE God. The inquisitive Bible student that I am, I did a word study on “PLEASURE” and discovered that with few exceptions, whenever the word "pleasure" is used, it speaks of God’s pleasure—not man’s.

So much in our culture encourages men to please themselves—a self-centered consumer mentality, self-esteem psychology, and humanistic religions. While an argument can be made that God wants us to enjoy His gifts and blessings to us, we must be careful not to Christianize (and justify) our own selfish pleasures.

Paul wrote that his ambition in life was to be pleasing to the Lord (2 Corinthians 5:9). He taught those at Thessalonica how to “walk and please God” (1 Thessalonians 4:1). John wrote that all things were created for God’s pleasure (Revelation 4:11). And most significantly, Jesus said "I always do the things that are pleasing to my Father" (John 8:29).

I don’t know about you, but I begin each new week evaluating and categorizing the things I need to do (yes, I am one of those compulsive people who keep a “to-do” list) by how much pleasure they promise me, that is, I attribute more ‘value’ to the things are naturally pleasing to me.

But after my study of this word “pleasure” I am corrected. Let us be encouraged to evaluate our daily activities in the light of what pleases God. And as Paul said putting the emphasis on "trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:10).