Daily Devo
Pleasing God
By: Jenny Hinners
Monday, August 25, 2025
the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. Psalm 147:11
Do you ever feel like you’ve disappointed God? If you have, you must remember The Lord's measuring stick is different than ours. If you’ve slid into a performance-based mentality with God, it's time to review what Scripture says about pleasing Him.
1. Have a reverent fear of God
The Lord’s pleasure with us is not based on our strength or our performance. We please Him by having a reverential, worshipful “fear” – or “awe” – towards Him. Grow your awe of God by remembering His goodness and faithfulness in your life. Seek out powerful testimonies about God from others and through the scriptures. Go outdoors, get some fresh air, and experience the majesty of His creation. Then imagine Him speaking it into existence!
2. Have confidence in His unfailing love
Having a confident hope in God’s love and mercy pleases Him. God’s loving “mercy model” is the opposite of our world's “performance model.” For example, poor performance at work will eventually lead to dismissal. Mercy is about second chances, and it's a central component of God’s character. Mercy is also something God requires us to exhibit towards others (James 2:13).
3. Obedience – not sacrifice
…to obey is better than sacrifice…. – 1 Samuel 15:22
Don't worry about pleasing God, focus on obeying God. Our obedience pleases Him! When asked, Jesus listed the two greatest commands in Matthew 22:37-39. When Jesus answered, He was actually telling us how to please God.
- Love the Lord with all your heart, soul, and mind.
- Love others as much as you love yourself.
If pleasing God seems difficult, reassess what He requires from you – Then filter out and remove any expectations you've placed upon yourself.
4. Heartfelt repentance
We can still please God when we've messed up. How? Through heartfelt confession and repentance. God doesn't expect perfection, He expects obedience, repentance, and submission.
5. Strong Faith
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. – Hebrews 11:6
When life gets tough our faith can waver. If it does, ask Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of your faith – to increase it.
6. Believe you are His child
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! 1 John 3
Christ follower, the Lord loves you, rejoices over you, and He's pleased with you because you are His precious child!