You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God. Do you think the scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit he has placed within us should be faithful to him. And he gives grace generously. James 4:4-6 (That’s heavy)

These verses remind me of another verse with the same message Galatians 1:10 “Obviously, I am not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.” This reminds me not to be so focused on what others think of me. After all, it makes me an enemy of God and not His servant. Instead, I become a servant of the world. I am a recovering people pleaser and that never quite works out because, let’s face it, I can’t please everyone. This is dangerous territory, trust me! In the process of pleasing others I forget about pleasing God. Then heartache and pain ensue. No one on earth extends grace and forgiveness like God does. No one on earth loves me like He does. Why do I waste even a second withholding my everything from Him and instead give it to the world? Pleasing God and shifting my focus to Him rather than the world brings peace and lasting joy. Seeking those things in the world is failure in a bottle. God knows this exponentially better than I do and that is why His command is to follow Him.

This includes making excuses for our sin. Not acknowledging these sins is living for the world, not Jesus. Every sin listed in the Bible is sin and we cannot make excuses for them. That is living for the world, not Jesus.

Rereading these verses today has reminded me, even given me courage, to follow Jesus completely. That is why reading God’s word is so essential. It gives us strength to do what we cannot. I can’t stop caring about what others think of me without the help of Jesus. So, I read God’s word and I talk to him every day. I do this life with Him and the longer I know Jesus the more evident it becomes just how much I need Him.

Prayer

Gracious God, please help me to follow You not the world. Help me not to fall into Satan’s trap of living for the world thinking that somehow if I do happiness will follow. Thank You for Your word and amazing grace. Oh, how I love You. In Jesus Name, Amen.