The "Why" of Pleasing God

1 Thessalonians 4:1] Finally, then, brethren, we request and exhort you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us instruction as to how you ought to walk and please God (just as you actually do walk), that you excel still more.


The aim of the child of God is to walk (i.e. - live) in such a way that God is pleased. The implication, by omission, is that it is perfectly possible to live in such a way that God is NOT pleased.

Paul makes some specific applications to that exhortation in the verses that follow, mentioning sexual purity, loving fellow-Christians, and working hard so as to not be a burden to others.

So, for instance, having sex with someone to whom you are not married, being unkind or unforgiving to your brothers and sisters in Christ, and refusing to work hard are all ways to displease God

And those don’t exhaust the possibilities for pleasing or displeasing God. We could expand the list to include every area of human conduct.

Here’s the thing. A believer in Jesus will choose to conduct himself in ways that either please or displease God - and the Apostle Paul urges us to excel in the fine art of pleasing God. Well and good. Not a problem. We "get" that the Bible urges us to please God. But, why? Why does it matter? And what will move us to say “No!” to temptation when the heat is on?

The theme for today is motivation. Why choose to obey God? What is the motive driving us to obey God? What is the motive (or what are the motives) that SHOULD drive us to please God?

Motives are a tricky theme and examining motives can be messy. There are lots of reasons for that messiness, chief among them being that there are usually lots of reasons for doing what we do.

The Bible recognizes this complexity. For Exhibit A, I present Paul’s short note to his friend, Philemon. This note was included in the New Testament and is among the shortest of the epistles. Paul wrote to convince Philemon to welcome back his runaway slave, Onesimus, AND to urge Philemon to grant Onesimus his freedom. It is crystal clear that these are Paul’s aims in writing.

A survey of this 25 verse letter reveals that the tactics he uses to convince Philemon to free Onesimus are many and varied.

For instance, there is:
(1). the veiled threat of an apostolic order (v. 8);
(2). the tender appeal of a good friend to a good friend (v. 10);
(3). the “Christian-family” argument that such treatment makes sense, given that Onesimus is now a fellow-Christian (vv. 10-11);
(4). the reminder of a debt owed by Philemon to Paul (v. 19);
(5). an appeal to Philemon’s good and loving and generous heart (v. 21); and
(6). the power of peer pressure - Epaphras, Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke are all with Paul as he writes and are all watching to see what Philemon will do. (vv. 23-24)

Clearly, Paul appeals to many possible motivations to convince Philemon to do that which is proper. A closer examination of this letter might reveal even more appropriate motives for “pleasing God.” Even a cursory overview, though, shows that there are lots of motives to which we can resort to urge obedience to God.

To bring today’s musings to a close, we'll note that the Bible makes it clear that there is only one way of living that makes sense, and that is to live in such a way that brings a smile to God’s face. Further, there is not one, catch-all reason/motive for choosing that kind of a life. No, there are lots and lots of reasons to do so!

So…

Are there illegitimate motives for obeying God? Are some motives better and more God-honoring than others?

If you’ve ever wrestled with the whole idea of why you do what you do, I hope the next several posts will be helpful as we consider the “why’s” of obedience.