Approval

Approval

MY QUESTION for GOD

So often I want to be approved by others, but I know God’s approval is more important. How do I properly balance these two priorities?

A MOMENT with GOD

We speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.

1 Thessalonians 2:4

The Kingdom of God is not a matter of what we eat or drink, but of living a life of goodness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. If you serve Christ with this attitude, you will please God, and others will approve of you, too.

Romans 14:17-18

What causes us to approve of some people and not others? Too often it comes down to appearance or performance. We don’t like the way someone looks, or we don’t like something they’ve done. Or perhaps the shoe is on the other foot, and you find it hard to win the approval of someone you love or someone you work for. You may never earn the approval of certain people, no matter how good you look or how well you perform. When evaluating your desire for approval, you should understand the ground rules. It’s entirely appropriate for your boss to disapprove of your work if you are not meeting set standards of performance. It’s entirely appropriate for God to disapprove of your behavior if you are enjoying a lifestyle that is contrary to his commandments. But there’s another kind of approval that everyone needs, and it should never be based on performance. It is the unconditional love we all long for. In a good family, you find love and acceptance no matter how you look or what you do. This is a picture of what it’s like to be in God’s family. As a child of God, created in his image, God loves and accepts you not for what you do but for who you are. The fact that God has created you gives you great worth. He loves you and approves of you because you are his, no matter what you think about him or what others think about you. The knowledge that nothing you can do will cause God to love you less should give you peace of mind and motivate you to please him even more.

DIVINE CHALLENGE

Accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given Glory. Romans 15:7