Who's Approval Are You Living For?

March 13, 2025

Jesus said, “I don’t try to please myself, but I try to please the One who sent me” (John 5:30 NCV). He’s saying, in effect, “I’m living for an audience of one.”

Jesus never let someone else’s approval or a fear of rejection control him. He wasn’t out to win a popularity contest. He didn’t need other people’s opinions to validate himself.

Did you know that people pleasing is a form of idolatry? The first commandment in the Ten Commandments says, “You shall have no other gods before me” (Exodus 20:3 NIV).

Anything you put before God becomes a god. So, a boat could be a god. A career could be a god. A girlfriend could be a god. Golf could be a god. Anything that becomes number one in your life that isn’t God becomes your god.

The second commandment is, “You must not make for yourself an idol” (Exodus 20:4 NLT).

Anything that replaces God in your life is an idol. Success can be an idol. Money can be an idol. Sex can be an idol. A relationship can become an idol. If that relationship to your spouse, boss, or friend is more important than God, it’s an idol.

People pleasers allow other people’s opinions to take first place in their lives. Those opinions become a god because they matter more than God’s opinion. You don’t want to tell people you’re a Christian because they might think less of you. You don’t want them to know you go to church because they may not like you. At that point, you have another god in your life. You have made an idol of people pleasing.

Paul says in Galatians 1:10, “I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant” (NLT).

Almost everyone wants to be liked. It’s tempting to want to please other people. But don’t do it at the expense of pleasing God. As a servant of Christ, you have an audience of one. You need to only please God.

Wouldn’t it simplify your life to live for an audience of one? If God likes what you’re doing, then you know you’re doing the right thing.

The truth is, you can’t please everybody. Even God can’t please everybody! When someone prays for it to be sunny, somebody else is praying for it to rain. Somebody is praying for their team to do well, and someone else wants the opposing team to win. You can’t please everybody.

You have to decide whose approval you’re going to seek—God’s approval or other people’s approval. Are you going to live for what other people think or what God thinks?

When you have the mind of Christ, you will be so secure in your identity, your purpose, and God’s presence in your life that you won’t need to look to other people for approval.