How to truly please God? What are the attitudes that please the “heart” of God? In this study we will explore some biblical verses and discover 5 essential things to be practiced in everyday life to please Him.
Jesus teaches us how to please God.
The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.
John 8:29
New International Version
The Master lived pleasing to God. He was obedient to the word of the Eternal and practiced his commandments, so he can teach us how to do it too, and so we will please God with our life! See John 13:15 and 15:10.
Therefore, to know how to really please God is simple: just keep our focus and learning in the observance of the example of obedience and holiness that the Lord gave us (cf. Heb 12:1-2).
However, we’re going to be more specific in our approach, so we’re going to show you at least 5 things we can do to please God.
1) Having faith (trust) in God pleases him.
Jesus said, “Have faith in God”. He also said, “Believe in God, believe also in me” (Mark 11:22; John 14:1).
And without trusting (faith), it is impossible to be well pleasing to God, because whoever approaches him must trust that he does exist and that he becomes a Rewarder to those who seek him out.
Hebrews 11:6
Complete Jewish Bible; our parentheses
It seems obvious, but it’s important to talk about it, because if it weren’t, there wouldn’t be a verse in the Bible talking about it, would it?!
Having faith in God pleases him; that is, trusting him and believing that he is a rewarder of those who seek him, for even many believers still have difficulty with this.
We need to keep believing and trusting God in the midst of trials!
If we read the entire context of Hebrews 11, we will see many examples of the faith and trust of God’s servants who were persecuted and even killed for their testimony. However, they did not deny their faith, they did not stop believing in the Divine reward for their perseverance (see Heb 6:10; Cf. Luke 21:17-19).
Another example of faith is in Moses, who even after much struggle did not enter the promised land, but was confident that he would not lose his reward (Heb 11:24-27).
The so-called “heroes of faith” described in Hebrews chapter 11 always believed that their reward was beyond the goods of this life. They believed that in the world to come they would inherit the country which God had prepared for them; see Heb 11:16.
So we are always confident — we know that so long as we are at home in the body, we are away from our home with the Lord; 7 for we live by trust, not by what we see. We are confident, then, and would much prefer to leave our home in the body and come to our home with the Lord. Therefore, whether at home or away from home, we try our utmost to please him;
2 Corinthians 5:6-9
Complete Jewish Bible
Ultimately, this kind of absolute trust pleases God. For this reason, we cannot be discouraged or doubt his help in the face of life’s trials or difficulties, nor let ourselves be carried away by the rush to want everything immediately that this contemporary life imposes on us. Rather, we must place our complete trust in the Eternal One, not allowing anxiety to throw us into the sea of doubt and anguish (cf. Phil 4:6-7).
2) Keeping the Word in our heart is extremely necessary to please God!
I treasure your word in my heart,
Psalm 119:11
so that I won’t sin against you.
Complete Jewish Bible
This certainly is one of the main ways to please God in the Bible! Not to say it’s the main one; that is, to keep the word of God in the heart!
Psalm 119:11 mentions something of great value that the psalmist loved and hid in his heart: Divine teaching!
But in practice, what does it mean to keep the word of God in our hearts and how can we please Him with it? It is, of course, about loving God’s teaching in the Bible, reading it often for knowledge of God’s words, memorizing its teachings, putting them into practice!
- Love;
- To read;
- To memorize;
- To practice.
But we need to note that one thing cannot work without the other. For how to practice the Bible at the right time if we don’t know it? How to memorize it if we don’t have the habit of reading? And how can we keep reading something we don’t love or don’t like?
Therefore, we must be sincere in our search for God. We should pray to Him asking Him to give us a love for His word, and wisdom to keep it in our minds. The psalmist expresses his willingness to memorize the divine commandments. He wanted to put them into practice, and in this way avoid sinning against the Holy One, blessed be He.
In the same way, we can be obedient and please God by hiding His Word in our hearts!
Now that you know that keeping God’s Word in the heart pleases Him, you also need to train your Bible memory to use it at the right times!
If you find it difficult to memorize Bible verses, you need to know that you need to exercise your memory for this! But you won’t until you know the right techniques that will help you.
Memorizing the Bible is useful not only to resist moments of temptation, like the Lord in Mt 4:1-11, but also for teachers to instantly answer several questions in Bible school classes, to speak the divine message promptly in a conversation non-formal, preaching the Word of God in the congregation without error; to teach small groups in Bible studies or individual counseling, etc.
There are several titles of authors who have gathered tips to memorize the Bible more easily, such as How To Memorize The Bible Fast And Easy, by Adam Houge.
3) Walking with God every day pleases him.
By trusting (faith), Hanokh was taken away from this life without seeing death — “He was not to be found, because God took him away” — for he has been attested as having been, prior to being taken away, well pleasing to God.
Hebrews 11:5
Complete Jewish Bible; our parentheses
It’s surprising what happened to Enoch, isn’t it?!
Try to imagine a person living in communion with God in such a way and being pleasing to Him, that God decides to take such a person to himself before he dies!
God took Enoch to himself! And so he disappeared.
The Eternal wanted Enoch to be with him, because he was very pleasing to God in this life.
As we see in this situation, the Sovereign is a God of relationship with human beings. Therefore, we too need to have such friendship with Him!
But what does it mean to walk with God as Enoch walked?
In fact, we will understand better what it is if we look at the context in which this man lived.
At that time, human beings were inventors of evil and very cruel. They had separated themselves from the divine teachings given to them since the days of creation (Gen 1:27-31). They also started committing murders, not respecting each other’s lives, betraying each other and even eating human flesh! It would lengthen our present study too much if we started transcribing the accounts of extra-biblical literature that mention the evils of human beings in that era. For those more interested, you can check out the e-book “Additional accounts of Genesis extracted from the book of Enoch“, written by myself (in Portuguese only).
But, basically, for Enoch to please God in the time he lived, as well as the well-known Noah, his great-grandson (Gen. 6:8-9), he basically did the opposite of what his contemporaries did. That is, Enoch maintained a righteous life, not robbing others or disrespecting them. He did not commit adultery or murder. He didn’t speak lies, he didn’t invent evil to take advantage of others, and he didn’t disrespect God. Enoch truly walked in the opposite direction of the world of his time.
The Bible is full of examples of other men who were righteous and faithful to God, and therefore were considered righteous before Him, such as Abraham, Job, Daniel and several others (see Jacob [James] 2:23; Job 1:1 -5; Dan 6:3-4).
Therefore, living with such integrity, truth, and righteousness certainly pleases God!
4) Asking the Creator for wisdom pleases him.
So now, give me wisdom and knowledge; so that I will be able to lead this people. For who is equal to judging this great people of yours?
2 Chronicles 1:10
Complete Jewish Bible
We must ask God for wisdom!
When God appeared to King Solomon, David’s son, in 1 Kings 3 (also 2 Chronicles 1), he granted him to ask for something. The king, in turn, instead of asking for the defeat of his enemies, riches, glory and long life for himself, was concerned with attaching himself to God’s call. Solomon then asked for wisdom to govern the people of the Eternal with justice and discernment, as we saw in the verse above (cf. 2 Chr 1:11-12).
The Scriptures record that Solomon’s request pleased God! See 1 Kings 3:10.
God is pleased when His people ask Him for wisdom and understanding to do what is good and right in His sight, and to accomplish the work to which He calls each one of us.
So ask God for wisdom and seek it. After all, He Himself taught that His people are destroyed when they lack knowledge! (Hos 4:6)
The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom!
Proverbs 4:7-8
And along with all your getting, get insight!
Cherish her, and she will exalt you;
embrace her, and she will bring you honor;
Complete Jewish Bible
But we must ask for wisdom to do good. Solomon asked to lead and care for God’s people; and we, what are we asking for?
Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him demonstrate it by his good way of life, by actions done in the humility that grows out of wisdom. But if you harbor in your hearts bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, don’t boast and attack the truth with lies! This wisdom is not the kind that comes down from above; on the contrary, it is worldly, unspiritual, demonic. For where there are jealousy and selfish ambition, there will be disharmony and every foul practice. But the wisdom from above is, first of all, pure, then peaceful, kind, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
Ya’akov [James] 3:13-17
Complete Jewish Bible
Jacob, the righteous, brother of the Lord, whom we mistakenly know as “James”, which we read above, also recommended that we make the same request to God that Solomon made, read chapter 1, vs. 5-7 of his letter.
5) Forgiving our fellow men also pleases the Eternal.
And when you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him; so that your Father in heaven may also forgive your offenses. But if you do not forgive, your Father in heaven will not forgive your offenses.
Mark 11:25-26
No one has given greater forgiveness than what God has given us, for He is rich in forgiving! (Num 14:18; Ps 86:5) Master Yeshua, reflecting the image of God, also asked that the people who mistreated him to death be forgiven, see Lk 23:34.
He also taught in the parable of the unmerciful servant that we should forgive our fellow men, for like them, we make mistakes, and even worse (Mt 18:21-35). The Master still illustrates in this narrative that God forgives our sins if we plead with Him, and therefore we must also forgive the sins of those who faltered with us.
Do you know other attitudes that please the heart of God?
There are many other important things we can do to please God, but these I have written briefly because they are essential. I hope it built your faith.
Do you also know of other attitudes that please the heart of God? Scroll down this page a little further and share with us in the comments.
With your experience, we will know even more how to please God in everything. Share this study to strengthen your brothers’ faith too.
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