People Pleasing
“Am I now seeking human approval, or God’s approval? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still pleasing people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10 )
There is a concept that cuts across all types and forms of training and raising; the object of the training (that is, who or what is to be trained) needs to instilled with the desire to please the trainer. This principle holds for childrearing, training dogs, cats (if you can believe and it is true, cats can be trained), horses, lions, and just about any other living creature that is capable of having its behavior influenced. As to how to instill that desire, well, there the methods vary.
So if one were to set out to ‘train’ Christians, who would be the trainer that needed to be pleased? That is the question that this scripture poses. Jacques Dosie (D’Auchy), at the age of 15, was imprisoned and then, according to Reading from the Anabaptist Bible , summoned before an assembly of nobles consisting of at least one Lady. The theory was I guess that a woman might have more luck convincing a youth to recant his faith; it did not work. He cited as his reason the spirit and intention of this verse from Galatians.
May you, gentle reader, be trained by the Lord God through those faithful to the Divine’s will. And may you please the Lord God in full measure. Selah!
