Daily Devotionals
Devotional: 6th of Teves
Each of us should please his neighbor (Romans 15:2).
It is good to be pleasing. We are supposed to please people and do things to comfort others and build relationships. But there is a big difference between pleasing people and being "people-pleasers." Peoplepleasers do not seek to merely express love and appreciation. Rather, they do their "pleasing" with ulterior motives. People-pleasers are not commited to the truth. They are willing to alter their ideas, views, personal feelings, even commitments, in order to receive personal benefit or praise.
Yeshua addressed this issue when he spoke about people who give alms in order to receive honor by men, "So, when you do tzedakah (charitable giving), don't announce it with trumpets to win people's praise, like the hypocrites in the synagoguges and on the streets" (Matthew 6:2).
We all succumb to the temptation to "people-please" at the expense of the truth, or at the expense of the gospel.Yochanan (John) tells us,"Many of the leaders did trust in him; but because of the P'rushim [Pharisees] they did not say so openly, out of fear of being banned from the synagogue; for they loved praise from other people more than praise from God" (John 12:42-43). Let us be pleasing people while avoiding the trap of becoming people-pleasers.
...seek the praise of God in all that I do.
JS
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