(Read time: 2:15)

Read Galatians 1 for full context!

...Galatians 1:6-10 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— ⁷ not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. ⁸ But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.⁹ As we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.

¹⁰ For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

 

Who are you trying to please?

 

Paul goes to an extreme reminding this early church who it is that we are to live for, and it wasn’t for the approval of men or this world.

 

“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.”

Galatians 1:10 

If you are anything like me you relate to this quote; “there is nothing more common than mans desire to be remarkable”.

It’s normal to want to fit in, it’s normal to follow the crowd, it’s popular to go with the flow and follow trends.

Yet to follow Christ we must go against the flow of culture and not be like the world. In other scripture we are commanded to “not conform to the patterns of the world”. So what Paul is reminding this early church and what he is reminding you and I is this, to follow Christ is to go upstream, it’s to turn away from the things of the world and to turn towards towards heaven. 

To please God we need to deny being lord of our life and ask Christ to be Lord of our life taking on the role of a servant to righteousness.

 

Paul goes to great length to remind his audience that he once followed the things he was taught, that he did so to please his parents, to be great amongst men and in order to follow Christ he had to deny all those things and follow the commands of Christ and the gospel. 

 

Are you trying to please God by the choices your making everyday or are you trying to please people?

 

Are you allowing scripture to shape you or are you allowing the culture around you to shape you?

 

If you want to know Christ as both Savior and Lord, you must follow Him upstream and allow Him to renew your mind, He came to be great by humbling Himself to the lowest level of servant, are you willing to decrease so that He can increase? 

Choose this day whom you will serve.

 

- Joe Rigelsky
Founder of or Global Ministry Partner, Upstream International