Is the Aim of Your Life to Please the Lord?
by Anna Kuta, Crosswalk.com Contributor
Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him (2 Corinthians 5:9).
My pastor mentioned today’s verse in a sermon several weeks ago, and it has stuck with me since then, convicting me.
Basically, this verse is telling us that if our ambition is something other than being pleasing to the Lord, we need to reevaluate. Too often I find myself going through life with a totally different aim, whether it be to please others, to be perceived a certain way or to please myself. But this verse has me thinking, and it is something we all need to consider. How can I claim to put the Lord first in my life while continuing to do things I know are not pleasing to Him? Do I even claim to put Him first in my life? And if I continue in sin, what message does that send to unbelievers with whom I am trying to share the gospel message?
The Bible is our complete manual to following the Lord and living for Him. Though we are all sinful people, the process of the Christian life should be one of sanctification and becoming more Christlike – and we can find in the pages of God’s word everything we need to grow in our faith and knowledge of the Lord. As Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 4:1: “Finally then, brethren, we urge and exhort you in the Lord Jesus that you should abound more and more, just as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God; for you know what commandments we gave you through the Lord Jesus.”
We can’t live to please God unless we know who He is and what He commands – and we can’t know that unless we read His word. As Romans 10:17 says, “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” As Christians, our aim should be constantly striving to better know the Lord, to follow Him – and to please Him.
What is your aim?
Intersecting Faith & Life: Are you living in a manner "well pleasing" to the Lord? If you do not read your Bible every day, commit to set aside a few minutes. Ask the Lord to open your eyes to His directions as you read His word. Pray that He will help you live a life pleasing to Him.
Further Reading
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