The Difference Between “Pleasing” God And Giving God “Pleasure”

Every Christian wants to please God, without question.

No Christian ever wakes up in the morning and says, “I wonder how I can make God angry with me this morning?”  That just doesn’t happen.  Ever.

But how often do we, as Christians, wake up in the morning and say, “How can I live my life today so that God receives pleasure by watching me live.”

Ouch.  That seems like a hard thing to do, doesn’t it.  Or does it?  Maybe it is just me….

The following two statements are essentially indentical, but they probably come across as being closer to that of night and day.

1.  I want to please God by living a good life.

2.  I want God to experience pleasure by how I live my life.

Yes, they are saying nearly identical things, but some Christians might believe the second statement is much harder to do.  Do you think that?

For me…and I can only speak for myself here…but for me, trying to “please” God with my life almost sounds like I’m trying to earn His favor.  Certainly I want to “please” God and not grieve Him, but it comes off as though I’m trying to earn some brownie points with the God of my salvation.

But if my goal for life is so that God will receive “pleasure,” now that is something amazing.  To put it this way sounds like my focus is God-centered and not self-seeking.  I want God to be pleased with my life, for sure, but I also want God to experience “pleasure” by the way that I live.

How about you?  Are you trying to “please” God or are you trying to live in such a way that God is glorified and gets to enjoy “pleasure” by watching you live?

Think about it.