So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him. ESVUK

This is the essence of the Christian life: aiming to ”please” the Lord. In this world our best efforts will inevitably fall short and be tainted by sin, but one day we will be enabled to fulfil this goal perfectly.

It is clear that, in Paul’s theology, we don’t aim to please the Lord to be accepted by Him. But once we are made right with God through faith in Jesus, wanting to please Him becomes the overflow of the experience. How can we not want to please the One who loves us so much and has treated us so generously?

This is also the heartbeat of someone who knows that he/she is accountable to God (10).

It is a most important question to face honestly: ‘What behaviour on my part is most likely to please the Lord?’ Sometimes we may not be 100% clear about the answer. But I think more often than not we will be – if we are honest with ourselves and God.