Pleasing God
- Jul 21
- 5 min read
“Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification (Rom.15:2). But this path hides a very subtle spiritual temptation. What does “please” mean? Christianity is not slavish conformism. Pleasing is neutral in and of itself—it becomes either an ascent to virtue, or a fall into sin. There is an abyss between metaphysical freedom in Christ and psychological slavery before the opinions of this age. The Apostle strictly warns us: If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ (Gal. 1:10). Where is the line between these things? When we seek praise, we conform to others’ vices for the sake of our own comfort—we fall into slavery to man-pleasing. But when we sacrifice our own convenience for the sake of our brother’s eternal salvation, this is a service of love.” (Metropolitan Luke Kovalenko)
“Any good that we do in life is due to God, the Creator and Giver of life. God gives the life we have and any talents and gifts we may have. The choices and decisions we make in life determine if we live in ways pleasing to the Lord God…We determine the degree of personal interest we have in Divine healing and God’s Kingdom…Let us look deep within ourselves and determine if we are giving God the credit due for any good that we do and have done. Let us look deep within and assess if we are truly grateful to God for gifts and talents we have received from God.” (Father Rodney Torbic)
“It makes a great impression on me when I see a very sinful man (you can say he turned into rags through his sins) on whom the grace of God rests, because he’s a very humble man who repents. And on the other hand, you see very good, respectable people who don’t do anything bad…but they’re so rigid, so unrepentant—you don’t dare touch them. And which of them do you think is more pleasing to God? This fine gentleman, who does everything perfectly, but whose soul is so rigid, and whose mind is so unhumble? This man has never humbled himself, never cried before God. Or this young fellow, who has committed many sins, but came to the Church and weeps about his situation?” (Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)
“You enjoy basking in spiritual pleasures, in always feeling satisfaction and delight from prayer and your communion with the Lord. This, however, is both impossible and unhelpful. It’s impossible because any form of spiritual refreshment isn’t the fruit of our own efforts, but is a gift from God’s mercy, a gift which is bestowed on a person whenever and for how long God wishes. It’s impossible, also, because as long as the passions live and are active within us, no spiritual pleasure can remain stable in the soul. In any case, the untimely and illogical pursuit of such pleasures is also, as I said, unhelpful, because it leads to spiritual paralysis and debilitation. We must simply strive in a manner pleasing to God, with zeal and boldness, with watchfulness and self-control, with humility and contrition. Regarding God, two sentiments should be uppermost in our heart: love and awe. The angels stand before Him in fear and trembling. I repeat, live in watchfulness, with spiritual vigilance and a humble outlook.” (St. Theophan the Recluse)
“Who can explain the bond of the love of God? Who can express the splendor of its beauty? The height to which love lifts us is inexpressible. Love unites us to God, “Love covers a multitude of sins” (1Pt 4:8). Love bears all things, is long-suffering in all things. There is nothing mean in love, nothing arrogant. Love knows no schism, does not rebel, does all things in concord. In love all the elect of God have been made perfect. Without love nothing is pleasing to God.” (St. Clement of Rome)
“The fundamental problem is the notion of “works.” It’s the belief that pleasing God is a matter of human effort. The harder one toils, the more one exerts oneself, the greater the chance that God will look with favor on him or her. But what God our Creator wants from us is far greater than works. It is our faith and love. These are matters of a relationship, and a relationship is a state of being…To live “to God” mean that we dedicate our whole being to the Lord, not just certain acts.” “What then establishes this state of our relationship to the Source of Life? It is His grace that in Christ invites us into that state of being. And faithfulness is the state of our response to His mercy. This condition goes far beyond any acts, however, impressive we might think they are. Yet living in faith also produces works of mercy and devotion as its necessary and natural result.” (Fr. Basil)
“Sometimes people think that a certain “lack of hope” is a Christian virtue. They think that by proclaiming that “all is lost” they please God by their humility and sorrow over sins, their own and those of the world. They think that the more they concentrate on the evils of men, the more they exalt the strength of the wicked, the more they sigh and say, “There is no help for us in God!”, the more righteous and pious they become. But this is all wrong. It has nothing to do with the patient suffering at the hands of the wicked, and the patient struggle against the powers of evil that the righteous must endure, being absolutely certain of their ultimate and total victory in God, the source of their strength and their hope. It is no virtue to feel weak and helpless in the presence of the wicked. It is no virtue to consider oneself totally at the mercy of evil and sin. It is a virtue rather to be always “rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation” knowing and believing that the final victory is God’s (Rom 12.12).” (Father Thomas Hopko)
“God is not pleased to see that the unity He wants for His people is shattered, and that His flock is divided into many factions…God is not pleased to see His Church which is called upon to care for all —not caring enough about the poor, those little ones whom He loved, and not treating them as its priority and the priority of its institutions…God is not pleased when He sees us clinging to the letter of things, emptying the letter from spirit and life…Love knows nothing of schisms, love leads no rebellions, love does everything in harmony…Without love nothing is pleasing to God.” (Bishop John, St. Clement of Rome)
“Do what you may, strive as earnestly as you can, live as excellently as you please, make what sacrifices you choose, be as eminent as you can for everything that is lovely and of good repute, yet none of these things can be pleasing to God unless they be mixed with faith.” (Charles Spurgeon)
“Faithfulness which is a foundation that without which "it is impossible to please God." (c.f. Heb 11: 6). The walls are made from the stones of obedience and patience, and with perseverance and courage as the cornerstone of the structure. Humility is the mortar that holds it all together. St. Dorotheos points out that like mortar, humility "…is composed of the earth and lies under the feet of all." To accentuate the extraordinary importance of humility, he goes on to say: "Any virtue existing without humility is no virtue at all." To this however, must be added discretion, which braces the building so to speak, and the roof of the building will be charity, which “completes the house.” (Fr. George Morelli)
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