Man-pleasers pretend to be humble, interested in others and a desire to be a servant. But their highest priority is to be honored, recognized and praised by man.
Their self-esteem and emotions are controlled by how man accepts, approves or rejects them.
We, by nature, like to be praised, honored and recognized by others. But we ought to be warned against seeking glory for ourselves.
Prov. 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Believers like to be praised by other Believers.
In fact, some churches have become nothing more than admiration societies. Everybody praises everybody else because that’s what everyone wants, then we leave church on a ‘spiritual high’ because we got our ego stroked, not because we were changed into God’s image.
When we dare to be God-pleasers, persecution comes and the temptation arises to compromise and shrink back to man-pleasers. We don’t like persecution, nor do we like to be mistreated, ignored, and rejected or to suffer.
It hurts, and we try to avoid it at all cost. We will, at times, compromise to save our skin. We feel that if we don’t talk about it, ignore it, or even give up on Christian principles, we can avoid the hurt of rejection.
Will you compromise your witness for Jesus so that you are not the object of ridicule?
Will you choose to be a man-pleaser instead of a God–pleaser to avoid persecution?
You will risk popularity if you choose to be a God-pleaser!
You might not have any friends or they will not publicly befriend you to avoid persecution.
We were created to worship and praise God, not man!
“No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God’s Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.” Romans 2:29 NLT
“For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” Matt. 16:26 NKJV
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