Pleasing God As Opposed To Pleasing Self

God rewards a man not by his performance, but by his desire to please God as opposed to pleasing himself.

God evaluates and judges a man’s heart by his desire to please God as opposed to pleasing himself. A man may appear accomplished through which he gains recognition. However, if his works are birthed not out of a desire to please God, he is seen as pleasing himself. Therefore, God is not concern about a man’s scope of influence or his resume of achievements. As God has appointed every man to a unique and important role in God’s salvation plan, every believer’s task is to find that role and fulfill it. Thus, in the endeavor of pleasing God, one may not find himself with much wriggle room. He may have to make painful sacrifices and pass up on his rights and privileges. He may have to forego the comfort of life in order to reach people in far flung places. He may have used up his productive years without seeing significant fruit from his labours. However, the reward of obedience is incomparable to the persecutions and momentary afflictions. And the sacrifices that seemed insignificant and superfluous to the world is precious to God.