Popular thought teaches that we are to take care of ourselves and put ourselves first. The truth is, everyone matters, and no one matters more than another unless someone needs to matter more in that moment. We cannot live our lives to please God unless we submit our lives to the God we want to please.

We exist because of our heavenly Father, the one true God. We exist because of the work of Jesus Christ in our lives and the sacrifice he made for our lives. We literally owe everything we are and all that we have to our triune God.

After Paul had taught that lesson to the Corinthian believers, he discussed their differences. To sum it up, he said they were diverse in their knowledge of God, their strength in God, and in their discernment of God. The point was not to compare the differences; instead, it was to realize that every Christian has the same God who created them with some of those differences yet loves each with the same love. 

So often our culture is consumed with the ways people are different. Comparisons usually end with an opinion of who is right and who is wrong. The truth is, we are all both right and wrong. That’s why we aren’t called to please everyone. All people are called to please their Creator because he would be the common denominator for all our differences. 

Imagine a world where everyone had the same objective of pleasing God. How would that change our conversations, our friendships, and our sense of well-being? That is the culture that God would have chosen for everyone, but that culture isn’t possible apart from Christ. Everyone exists because of God, but not everyone exists for the sake of God.

Wisdom is pleasing God. It is wise to remember why we are here, where we are going, and to live alongside the One who created us. We exist today and eternally because of our one true God. It is him we should wisely choose to please.