PLEASING GOD
God created us for his pleasure: to please him. (Isaiah 43:7&21, Colossians 1:16, Revelations 4:11)
But being loved by God does NOT mean we're pleasing to him. We must seek to please him.
Being loved by God is different from being well-pleasing to him. His love is unconditional. Pleasing him isn't.
That a father loves a child doesn't mean the child is always doing what pleases the father. His love for the child must be unconditional and unfailing even though the child is not well-pleasing to him at every or any point in time.
That's how God's love is. We know God loves everyone. But not everyone does what pleases God's heart.
Being loved by God is unconditional because God loves us irrespective of what we do. His love for us is not fickle, as the love of men is. God's kind of love never fails. (1 Corinthians 13:8)
However to please Him, we need to do certain things. For example, the Bible says: "without faith it is impossible to please God." (Hebrews 11:6)
So we see that faith is one thing that pleases God. Also is, holiness, godliness, truth, mercy, justice, sincerity, humility, meekness, forgiveness, compassion, giving, faithfulness, etc.
Basically, walking in the Word, in the Spirit, in faith, in love, in righteousness and in the fruit of the Spirit are the things that please God.
It must deeply matter to us as true children of God if our thoughts, words and actions are pleasing to him, irrespective of circumstances or what people have done to us, if indeed we love him with all our hearts, souls and minds. (Matthew 22:37)
But to truly please him, we must truly know or have a spiritual understanding of who he is. (Colossians 1:9-10)
Doing the Father's will brings him pleasure. He created us to bring him pleasure and whatever brings him pleasure is also what is truly good for us. He is pleased when we are our best and when are like him, perfect in heart and spiritually mature. (Matthew 5:48)
Finally, it is NOT all those who God loves, or all those who profess him as their Lord, who will inherit the kingdom of Heaven but those who do the will of the Father. (Matthew 7:21)
May our lives be well-pleasing to our perfect and holy Father who is in Heaven. Amen.
Grace to us all.
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