Who Are You Trying to Please?

A few days ago, three Facebook friends of mine hit the unfriend button. Because the unfriending happened at the time I decided to publish my blog, I believed the sudden evangelization of my faith was the cause of the unfriending. While I can’t know for sure why three people decided to unfriend me via Facebook, I let their actions give me doubts about continuing to write and evangelize. I felt that if I was losing friends over four blog posts, I must be doing something wrong. I must not be evangelizing God’s word in the proper way. Today, God called me out. He spoke to my heart saying, “Jacqueline, who are you trying to please?”

God’s words to my heart, along with today’s reading from the Acts of the Apostles, are humbling and encouraging. The Acts of the Apostles is as follows:

When the court officers had brought the Apostles in and made them stand before the Sanhedrin, the high priest questioned them, “We gave you strict orders, did we not, to stop teaching in that name? Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and want to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the Apostles said in reply, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our ancestors raised Jesus, though you had him killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior to grant Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. We are witnesses of these things, as is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

When they heard this, they became infuriated and wanted to put them to death. (Acts 5:27-33)

Peter and the apostles’ reply to the Sanhedrin is what struck me the most, “We must obey God rather than men…”


While I am not, like the apostles, an eyewitness of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, my relationship with Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, has given me experience of his divine mercy. Because of the experience and friendship God has given me, He deserves all my praise. After all, who else besides Jesus Christ suffered, died, and rose from the dead for the world’s redemption? Why wouldn’t I continue praising God? Why would I choose anyone else’s friendship and favor over His?

As today’s reading reveals, praising God and proclaiming his word does not always win you friends. In fact, the Sanhedrin became so infuriated they wanted to kill Peter and the Apostles. 


But God is worthy of it all. He is worth the risk of losing friends because he became man and emptied himself of blood to purchase our forgiveness. He rose from the dead to invite us into everlasting life with him. How can we not praise him?