Devotionals

Changing Our Actions

by Dr. Brenda Robinson and Brooke Cason

February 2, 2011

Scripture Reading: Galatians 1:10

“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”

I noticed in all the worlds we reviewed everyone’s was out of kilter (out of order) somewhere. They all started out with good intentions or thinking their world was doing okay. They thought they were pleasing to God or at least alright in the sight of God.

Most of them made remarks such as “I am a daughter/son”, “I go to Church on a regular basis”, “I read my Bible every week”, “I do good deeds for others”, “I’m dependable”, “I’m faithful to my parents and family”, and “I’m a good person”. I could go on and on with the remarks I have heard. However, these actions are not what shape our worlds into lives that produce productive, peaceable young Christians. These actions are our God given responsibilities that we are to perform on a daily basis. These are our duties, not favors, to God.

I also noticed that in most of the worlds, there was a sense of impressing others or keeping the same lifestyle as our peers. This led to remarks such as “It takes both of my parents working so that I can have the same things as my other peers”, “My title requires me to live a certain standard”, “I do not want to be considered an outcast”, “I have to participate in a certain amount of socialism to keep my reputation”, “I have to do whatever it takes to fit in”, “I have to go out with my friends after school hours”. All of these actions must be changed and/or re-evaluated if you are ever going to have a personal relationship with God, a stress-free life, a stable home environment, healthy relationships, and a well rounded world.

Paul states in our Scripture text that we are not to please man. If we do, how can we be the servant of Christ? This statement is coming from someone who had it all and lost it all for the sake of Jesus Christ. This man had restructured his world to please the Heavenly Father. In his heart, no one else mattered. Paul had lived in the world of pleasing man and it got him nowhere. He had sat on thrones and lived in palaces. He had been in political seats and governed the Jewish people. However, he was dethroned and disowned the moment he became a born again believer.

When our actions change, our relationship with God will also change. If our actions change for the world, we will stray farther from God. If our actions change for God, we will draw closer to God and He will draw nearer to us. The less we seek to please man and the world, the more pleasing to God we will become. We will take on a servant’s heart and God will be able to use us for His glory. The beauty of all of this is that we will want to be used. We will not want any part of the world. We will be like Paul. We will restructure our world and change our actions to the likeness of Christ. We will fight the good fight and we will stay on course.