People Pleasers

“You can please some of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time, but you can’t please all of the people all of the time.” – Abraham Lincoln

Jesus taught the Good News, and while many were drawn to follow Him for His message, the Pharisees were offended by His message.  Jesus refused to back down from teaching like He was called to do.  Consequently, the Pharisees first criticized Him and later crucified Him for it.  For Jesus, it was never an option for Him to try and please everyone, because by doing He would have done a grave disservice to those he was actually called to reach.  Had He sought to make His message more appealing to everyone, He would have diluted it, thus making it meaningless.  For chronic people pleasers this is a hard fact to reconcile: you can’t please everyone.  Eventually, you'll have to be OK with letting some people go on being displeased with you.  Stay true to your values, the people that really love you, and God above all else.  In the end, all that really matters is hearing Jesus say those words: “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”

Jesus told his critics: "Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me (John 5:41, NLT).