Who Are You Trying to Please?
Most of you intellectually know that you cannot control the feelings of others. You simply cannot make someone happy if they have decided they are not. The only ones we need to try to please is ourselves and God. When we are in joy, guess what? Your joy will infect others! You will have more positive energy and it will show! Really! In delighting ourselves, we ultimately delight others.
However, when you spend all your energy trying to please others, that positive energy wanes. You will feel tired and unappreciated when your expectations of pleasing others is not met. Why put yourself through that. Case in point, you are expecting out-of-town family, so you go out of your way to clean your home from ceiling to floor, detailing every nook and cranny. Why? Are you doing this to make yourself happy or your guests?
Nine and a half out of ten, your out-of-town guests are there to visit you, not your spick-and-span house, right? Do what makes your happy and joy-FULL. Make your guests feel comfortable, but don’t dampen your spirits and positive energy by burdening yourself with detailing your home. That will certainly ZAP the JOY out of you; and, it would be counterintuitive. By pleasing yourself, you will please others. Do everything in love and joy. Please yourself and God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” (ESV)