Welcome to 2025! Often
when I enter a new year, I reflect on the past one, look for accomplishments
and gaps, and see where I want to strive to close those gaps for the next
year. I used to be a strong New Year’s
Resolutions person – only to be disappointed over and over again by my lack of
attaining all the resolutions I set out to achieve. Although many of the resolutions I would set
would work on self-identified items, they were typically so I could be better
for someone else. How could I be better
at work? How could I be better as a
wife/mother/daughter? How could I look
better? See the picture? My goals were an attempt to please someone around
me, or even trying to please myself! I
used to set the goal, outline a plan for success, review it weekly, and look
for attainment. Small gains were seen as
huge victories, only to be short-lived!
Please tell me you have been here as well!
My view changed a few years ago. When I began the accomplishment/gap
evaluation, I looked at my life here on earth, but I also turned my focus from
being a ‘people pleaser’ to being a ‘God pleaser.’ To be honest with you, when I looked at it
that way, the gaps became chasms. Did I
live the type of life He wanted for me?
Was I being the person He wanted me to be? My self-evaluation continued to show me where
I fell short on this earth. I would
leave this exercise feeling as if I would never get there.
Friends, my evaluation is correct. We will never get to be the perfect earthly
person. Only one lived perfectly on
earth, our dear Jesus. No matter how
hard we try, no matter how much effort we put against it, we will continue to
fall short of the perfect Godly person. We
are a sinful bunch – natural sin takes over the day we are born. The sinful nature continues each and every
day we live here on earth. There is
absolutely nothing we can do to change it.
Yet, that does not give us the right to put our Christian values aside
when we are with folks who are gossiping about others. That does not give us the right to treat people
deceitfully because someone asks us to. That
does not give us the right to give up who we are or who we aspire to be in God’s
light because we want to please people here on earth. Setting the goal of being a God pleaser
versus a people pleaser will mean never reaching the goal!
Here is the best news of the day – God does not expect us to
reach the goal here on earth! God’s
expectations of us is to focus and try.
He expects us to read His word, digest it and live it out in this earthly
world. He expects us to do our absolute
best to obey His commandments and share His love with others. Not achieving the end goal in this case is
not a disappointment. Each step we take
in this goal brings us closer to Him! Moving
past being a people pleaser and becoming a God pleaser gets our focus away from
‘me’ and brings us closer to ‘Him.’ How
do we know when we have achieved this new goal?
We will see it every day in the path we follow in His name. We will look at life differently, we will start
seeing the world through God’s eyes and appreciate ALL things, the little and
large achievements. We will see that we
are wonderfully made by God and that He, even with all of our sin, is proud of
us. Proud enough to be called His
children. Let us work hard on being a
God Pleaser this year. We will stumble,
but each step will be bringing us closer to our heavenly Father!
Dearest God, help us to focus our eyes upon You! May we move away from trying to please people
and move closer to trying to please you.
Help lay the path that I can follow and help me to open my eyes to see
it. Amen!
