“On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts.” — 1 Thessalonians 2:4
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For anyone who watches tennis quite a bit, they’ll notice that the players’ coaches have perfected the art of the head nod. Whenever a player makes a great shot or even just needs some affirming encouragement, the coach will give them an approving nod just to let them know that their effort is appreciated and the coach is pleased with their performance. Partly a carryover from the days when coaches weren’t allowed to coach from the box, the head nod has become synonymous in the sport as a non-verbal way for the coach to express his approval to his or her player on the court.
While watching a recent tournament and noticing this across several different matches, it occurred to me that sometimes, all we need is a head nod from God. We grow up desiring the affirmation and approval of our parents when we’re young, and that need to be affirmed never leaves us. We often spend our whole lives on some level craving that basic desire to know that someone else is pleased with us. That primal need can even lead us into people-pleasing and unhealthy behavior because we live for that feeling of knowing another is satisfied with us. We never grow out of that.
And that’s where it can be challenging to understand that the approval of God doesn’t work the same way as with every other human relationship. In any other situation, we’re constantly feeling as though we have to earn and keep the other’s affirmation, as if our identity is wrapped up in how well we do or don’t do on a daily basis — we do a poor job at work, we get fired; we mess up in a marriage or relationship, it could end in a breakup or divorce. Human approval can be extremely conditional, and we can easily believe that’s how God looks at it, too.
But the truth is, He doesn’t at all. His Word makes it clear that once you have been brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ and are considered part of the Heavenly Kingdom, you automatically have God’s approval. Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross satisfied the Father’s wrath and justice on your behalf, so now there is no longer any reason to keep earning His favor. You already have it!
And the fact that you have God’s favor now frees you up to no longer live enslaved to the fickle approval of other people. Galatians 1:10 says, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” As 1 Thessalonians 2:4 reminds us (above), God has approved us to be His ambassadors for the Gospel and we live for the One who tests hearts, not for any other’s expectations.
God’s head nod is all we need and, if we know we’ve entered into His affirming presence, that is the only thing that matters. His is the ultimate approval.
— Katherine Singer
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