Paul, in his letter to the Galatians, talks about his goal of pleasing God, not people. It was obvious through his ministry after his conversion, that he lived a life devoted to obedience to God and accomplishing what he was sent to do. I’m pretty certain that he achieved his goal.
I would readily say that I’m not trying to win the approval of people and my only interest is to please God, but that would just not be true. My actions certainly would not back up that statement. That is a goal of my heart and it is something I am working on, but I am a long way from bringing my actions in line with my intentions.
I can list many examples of times that I have started out on something that would please God, only to be swayed in a different direction in order to win the approval of people. That’s not to say that I haven’t stayed the course in order to please God over people at times. I truly have! I just know that I need to turn the percentages around so that I’m victorious in being a God-pleaser more consistently than I am in being a people-pleaser. Lord, help me in my efforts to always please you!
Galatians 1:10 (NLT) - “Obviously, 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.”