Galatians 1:10
“For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”
One of the common battles fought throughout the ages is making sure Christians keep their eyes on God and not on man. As humans, we tend to need flesh and blood to touch and see to help us serve someone or a cause. The problem with that is that the Christian life is to be lived through faith. You serve God completely by faith; therefore, if you must see something or someone to serve God you will fail.
The Galatians struggled with who they served. Paul addressed this problem throughout the whole Book of Galatians. He asked them in the verse above, “For do I now persuade men, or God?…” He understood they struggled with serving God by faith. Because of their struggle, they had their eyes on man. You will find out in the Book of Galatians that if you serve man, you are setting yourself up for several things.
First, you are setting yourself up for compromise. Paul asked them in Galatians 3:1, “Who hath bewitched you?” They got their eyes off God and placed them on man, and that caused them to compromise the faith. Any Christian who must have their eyes on man will compromise if that man compromises.
Second, you are setting yourself up for disobedience. Paul continued in Galatians 3:1 by saying, “…that ye should not obey the truth…” Notice, because they were “bewitched,” they ended up disobeying God’s Word. You will never completely obey God’s Word if you follow man.
Third, you are setting yourself up for a lack of growth. Galatians 3:3 shows us that the Galatians were not perfected in the faith. Why? Because they followed man. Man will never be able to help you grow as a Christian to the degree that God wants you to grow. Immaturity in the Christian life is a result of following man.
Fourth, you are setting yourself up for a lack of motivation. Galatians 4:13 shows us that Paul was motivated by the Gospel and not by a man. Here is one of the greatest problems with following man. If that man is not there to pump you up, then who is going to stir you to serve God? If you keep your eyes on God, you will find it is not hard to be stirred on a daily basis.
Fifth, by following man you are setting yourself up to be intolerant of the truth. Paul asked them in Galatians 4:16, “Am I therefore become your enemy, because I tell you the truth?” You will find when you follow man, if someone says anything against that man, even if it is truth, you will get upset at the bearer of truth. Only God has the edge on truth. When you keep your eyes on God, you will never despise truth because God is truth.
I ask you, who are you serving? I hope you are truly serving God. Too many Christians set themselves up for these five things when they follow man. You may not intentionally do this, but it’s so easy to do so, especially when you are in the ministry of a man whom God is greatly using. I encourage you to continually fight your flesh and surrender yourself to God’s leadership. Always keep your eyes on God, and these five areas will never be an issue for you.