Ephesians 6:6
“not by way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart”.
God encourages doing things not to be seen. We all like to be honored, we aren’t to act for the purpose of being recognized.
Some may say that God wants recognition, as the bible encourages Him receiving praise. That’s because it is right. People shouldn’t be judgmental about this most industries have recognition events and they whole heartedly attend them. God should receive credit for His brilliance in creation.
Giving credit to whom credit is due is not the same as eye-service. That is one doing acts for the purpose of being seen.
To walk with Christ is so fulfilling that the contentment and joy He gives is enough. We no longer need the shallow recognition we once sought. We want to please God, not man (Galatians 1:10).
We learn to adopt the image He wants to project, that of humility. When He sent His Son into the world, He came as a lowly one. His audience was poor shepherds. Isaiah 53:2 says, “He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no stately form or majesty to attract us, no beauty that we should desire Him.” This is difficult for our culture that awards beauty to receive.
We begin to be like Him, not wanting hollow recognition. But for Him to be praised. God will bring us honor. Psalm 23 says, “He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies.” He does so to bless us, but also to draw others to Him.
The last phrase of this verse says, “doing the will of God through the heart”. Before Christ, we couldn’t have imagined this. Religious acts were of no interest. In fact, they seem boring. Now we want to please Him. Being a people pleaser no longer interests us. Philippians 2:13 says, “for it is God who is at work in you, both to desire and to work for His good pleasure”. He puts a desire to do His will in us. We want to do what He wants.
This is miles from where we used to be. We used to be self serving. Now, we can hold the door, allowing others before us. That begins to be a life style. We know God will care for our needs. We don’t have to insert ourselves.
He gives us purpose. This is so fulfilling. It often aligns with our gifts, but doesn’t have to. We work for Him in our little corner and He says, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant”.
Lord, thank You for rescuing us from being people pleasers. Now we serve Him and thrive off His pleasure.