Pleasing God, People, and
Ourselves
To
“please” as generally used in the following passages means to give pleasure or
delight to.
2 Cor.
5:6-10 What do Paul and Timothy (1:1) say they have as their ambition,
whether at home (here on earth) or
absent (in heaven)?
Is this your ambition
in life, or is it to please yourself or others at the expense of displeasing
God, and why?
If your ambition is
to please God, how do you show it by how you live (e.g., your conduct, attitudes, goals, priorities, motives, activities,
speech, values, financial and time management)? Give examples.
What is one reason
why we should have as our ambition to be pleasing to God (
Col. 1:9, 10 Why
did Paul and Timothy (1:1) pray and
ask God that these Colossian believers be filled with the knowledge of His will
in all spiritual wisdom and understanding?
What does it mean to
walk/live in a manner worthy of the Lord (see
Eph. 4:1-3;
Are you pleasing (giving pleasure to) God in all respects
or in only some ways, and why?
Do you pick and
choose based on what’s convenient or comfortable to you, or do you seek to
please God in everything the Bible says pleases Him, and why?
Eph. 5:6-10 What are we told to try to learn?
Are you trying to learn this? If so, how?
Do you think reading your Bible
to find out what it says about what pleases God is the best way, and why?
Heb. 11:5, 6 Without
what, is it impossible to please God?
Do you believe that
God is who He says He is (i.e., all-powerful,
all-wise and all-knowing, eternal, sovereign, truth, present everywhere,
infinite, faithful, holy, merciful, compassionate, righteous, good, full of
grace, forgiving, Creator and Judge of the universe, patient, just, and
righteously wrathful), and why?
And do you believe
that God will fulfill His promise to reward those who seek (to know, worship, obey, serve, and love) Him?
Why?
Are you trusting God
for: your salvation (Jn. 3:16; Acts 4:12;
Eph. 2:8, 9), your provisions (Matt.
6:31-33; Phil. 4:19), His continuous love (Rom. 8:34-39), your not being tempted beyond what you can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), your service for God not
being in vain (1 Cor. 15:58), that
all things are working for good if you love Him and are a Christian (Rom. 8:28), that you’ll be rewarded for
doing good (Gal. 6:9), God’s peace (Phil. 4:6, 7), boldness rather than
fear (2 Tim. 1:7), God never
forsaking you (Heb. 13:5), wisdom in
dealing with problems/trials (James 1:5),
resisting Satan (James 4:7),
forgiveness for all sins (1 Jn. 1:9),
and answers to all your prayers that are according to God’s will (1 Jn. 5:14, 15), and why?
Heb. 13:15, 16 What three kinds of sacrifices please God?
Are you pleasing God
by: praising (acknowledging and thanking)
Him (for who He is and what He’s done
throughout history and for you personally), doing good
(to/for others), and sharing (what you have and are with others – e.g.,
your time, talents, treasure)?
Why?
Share a couple of
recent examples where you’ve done this.
Jn.
Since Jesus lives in the life of the believer (Jn. 17:23; Rom. 8:10; Col. 1:27) and Jesus always does what
pleases God, is it possible for us Christians to always do what pleases God, if
Christ is Lord of (controlling) our
lives?
What will you do to see that this takes place in your life?
1 Sam.
Are you pleasing God by
your obedience to His commands in the New Testament (e.g., to build up spiritually other believers – Rom. 14:19; 1 Thes.
5:11; Eph. 4:11-13; to evangelize the spiritually lost – Acts 10:42; 2 Tim.
4:5; Matt. 28:19, 20; Eph. 4:11, 12; and to live a holy life, a life separated
from sin and unto God – 1 Pet. 1:14, 15), rather than just doing optional
religious activities (e.g., singing in the choir, being on some church
committee, etc.), and why?
If not, what do you
plan to do about it, and how soon?
1 Jn.
Could this be a
reason why you don’t receive as many answers to your prayers as you’d like?
If so, what do you
plan to do about it, and how soon?
Jer.
Did you realize that
your church attendance, singing in the choir, teaching Sunday School or a
Bible study group, witnessing, being a youth group leader, etc. is worthless to
God if you’re living in sin, at the same time, by being willfully disobedient
to any of God’s commands for Christians in the New Testament?
What sacrifices
please God (Psa. 51:17)?
What else pleases God
more than religious rituals/activities (Psa.
69:30, 31)?
Are you pleasing God
by having a broken (i.e., humble) and contrite (i.e., repentant-of-sin)
heart/spirit/attitude?
If not, what will you
do about it, and when?
How does a person
acquire a humble and repentant attitude?
Rom. 8:8 What
can’t those who are in the flesh (controlled
by/living from their sin nature) do?
Are your desires,
attitudes, thoughts, actions, goals, and words controlled by your sin nature
and, therefore, displeasing to God, or by the Holy Spirit through your new
nature (if you’re a Christian) and,
therefore, pleasing to God? How
do you know?
1
Thes. 2:4, 5 What did Paul, Silvanus, and Timothy (1:1) speak, for which they were
entrusted with, that pleased God rather than pleasing people with flattering
speech?
Are you pleasing God
by spreading the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1, 3,
4 – that Christ died for the sins of believers, was buried, and was raised on
the third day), or are you telling people that if they’re simply good or
try their best, then God will let them into heaven?
Why?
1 Cor. 7:29-35 What is the unmarried (spiritual) Christian concerned
about (vs. 32)?
And what is the married Christian concerned about (vss. 33, 34)?
Why did Paul (under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit)
record this (vs. 35)?
If you’re a single
Christian, are you undistractedly devoted to pleasing God? If so, how do you show
this?
If you’re married, is
your top priority to please the Lord (by
seeking to do the things of the Lord, like: evangelizing the spiritually lost and
spiritually building up and training believers, and living a holy/godly life –
Matt. 28:19, 20; Eph. 4:11, 12; Rom. 14:19; 1 Thes. 5:11; 1 Pet. 1:14, 15),
and why?
[This doesn’t mean
that every Christian who is single is an entirely-devoted-to-the-Lord person
and doesn’t have distracting concerns.
Nor does it mean that every married Christian can’t be devoted to the
Lord. What it is saying is that married
Christians have marital responsibilities, such as to love their spouse, which
can be quite time-and-attention consuming as they try to please their
mate. Whereas, the
single person doesn’t have that responsibility/concern. If both spouses were spiritually-minded,
selfless, committed Christians, they could encourage each other to think about
putting God first and serving Him as the priority over each other, which actually
was the primary, original purpose for marriage (Gen. 2:18).].
2 Tim. 2:4 Why
doesn’t a soldier in active service entangle himself in the affairs of everyday
life?
Who called/enlisted
us as Christians/saints (1 Cor. 1:2; Eph.
4:1; 2 Thes.
Are you pleasing
God/Christ by not getting “entangled” in material possessions, home
repairs and beautification, money, career, school, non-spiritual relationships,
sports, music, cars, hobbies, video games, TV, computers, body-building, martial
arts, etc.?
Why would
entanglement in these things prevent a person from pleasing God/Christ?
How are you making
sure that you don’t get entangled in any of these things?
Would writing down
and focusing on your God-given objective, goals, and priorities in life, and
having daily reminders of these (by having daily Bible readings, wall
posters, watching Christian videos, having godly friends, and listening to
godly music) help?
1 Thes. 4:1 Though
these Christians were pleasing God to some extent, what does Paul exhort them
to do?
Even if you are
pleasing God to some degree, are you striving to excel still more? If so, how?
Mal. 1:7, 8,
10 How
did the Lord feel about the Israelites bringing defiled offerings (blind and lame animals) to Him on the
altar as sacrifices?
Do you give God your
left-over, scraps of time, if you have any, to read your Bible and/or pray, after you’ve first done everything you really want to
do?
Or, do you read your
Bible and/or pray when you’re tired/sleepy, after
you’ve expended your energy doing things you really wanted to first?
Is God displeased
with you because you try to obey Him, but do so in your own way (e.g.,
sloppily and/or lazily) or in your own time (e.g., when it’s convenient
or comfortable) and not the way He’s prescribed in the Bible?
For example, do you witness/evangelize, but do so only once in a great
while rather than as a way of life (regularly)? Or, do you witness, but only through
long-term friendship building first rather than to anyone, including strangers
you meet for the first time, as Jesus and Paul did? Or, are you trying to spiritually build up
and train believers for Christ, but are doing so only by teaching them the
Bible once or twice a week rather than by living with them or spending lots of
time teaching and training them in spiritual leadership skills and helping them
to develop Christ-like character through constant association, which includes
correcting them?
Pleasing
People and Ourselves
Why were the stronger
Christians not to selfishly please themselves in this situation, but rather
please their fellow weaker neighbor/Christian?
Have you ever
refrained from doing something that was legitimate because a weaker Christian
thought it was wrong to do?
[If you did, it pleased the weaker Christian by
removing a source of temptation for him/her to do that thing. This situation only relates to moral issues
in which the weaker person would be built up in his/her Christian life by your refraining from involvement in the practice he/she
views as wrong.].
Who is an example for
us to follow in His not selfishly pleasing Himself?
Are you willing to
give up your rights or legitimate activities (at least until you have a chance
to clearly and biblically explain your views) for the sake of not being a
hindrance to another Christian’s spiritual well-being, but instead be a tool
for the weaker Christian’s spiritual growth, and why?
1 Cor. 10:31-33 How did Paul
seek the profit/benefit of the many that they may be saved?
Do you please (become acceptable to) all kinds of
people in all kinds of ways/areas (which
don’t compromise the truth or what’s right) so that these people might
become Christians or that Christians might grow spiritually by your not
selfishly seeking your own interests in ways/areas that might be an obstacle to
someone’s becoming a believer or growing as a Christian?
If so, give an
example.
Gal. 1:6-10 When
should we not try to please people?
If we try to please
people by distorting the gospel, what wouldn’t we be?
Do you try to please
people by watering down or changing the gospel of Christ (i.e., that salvation is found only through trusting in Jesus Christ as
Savior, who died to pay for all our sins so that we are completely forgiven and
assured eternal life in heaven, rather than including: baptism, keeping the 10
commandments, going to church, doing good works, tithing, being sorry for your
sins, etc. as requirements for eternal life in heaven, Acts 4:12; Col. 2:13,
14; 1 Cor. 15:1-4; 1 Jn. 5:13-15), and why?
1 Kings 3:5, 9-11 What did king Solomon do (ask for) that pleased the Lord?
Why was this pleasing
to God (vs. 11)?
What would you have
asked God for if He said you could have any one thing, and why?
Are your prayers
selfish or pleasing to God? Why
did you answer it this way?
Prov. 11:1 What
brings delight/pleasingness to the Lord?
Are you bringing delight to God by dealing honestly with people? If so, give a recent
example.
Prov.
Do you bring delight to God because of your blamelessness (outward
moral life)?
How did you determine your answer?
Prov.
Are you bringing delight to God because of being truthful in your
dealings with people?
If so, give a recent example of how you were when it may have been more
convenient not to be.
Prov. 15:8 What
else brings delight to the Lord?
Had you realized
before reading this that the prayers of the upright (i.e., morally whole)
do this for God?
Now that you know,
what do you plan on doing about it, and why?
Jer.
Are you delighting
God by exercising these? If so, how?