Theological Commentary: Click Here
Discipleship Focus: Approval
- Approval: We all need to feel as though we are accepted. When we seek the approval of God, our Up is in the right place. But when we seek the approval of other people besides God, we open the door to pursuing false gods and risk putting someone or something other than God in our Up position.
I can’t
help but to read this chapter and ask myself if this is really true about me as
well. Am I truly seeking God’s approval
more than the approval of the world? Am
I seeking God’s approval more than I am even seeking my own approval? Am I really about God’s agenda more than I am
about my own agenda?
I think
that is one of my biggest challenges. I
want to do what I want to do. I want my
life to be arranged as I want it. I want
my pleasure, my fame, my success, my prosperity. I know that it shouldn’t be that way, but
deep down in my core that is the struggle.
As Paul asserts in verse 4, no soldier ever gets involved in civilian
plans. The question is, am I really
interested in the plans of the Lord or am I interested in my own plans?
That’s
why this is fundamentally a question of approval. If I am seeking the approval of God I would
be like that soldier who is interested in that which the one who enlisted me is
interested. Or, if I am seeking out the
approval of God I would be like that athlete who wants to play by the
rules. If I am truly seeking the
approval of God, that is precisely what my life should look like.
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