September 17, 2026

Hey guys, 

This week’s Thought comes from the second part of Romans 2:29. Paul says, “a change of heart is produced by the Spirit, and a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.”

That sounds very similar to Paul’s words in Galatians 1:10, “Obviously, I'm not trying to win the approval of men or people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ's servant.”

Most of us fall victim to seeking approval from other people at some point. It may be people that are close to us, that we want them to love us and respect us, but more often than not, we find ourselves concerned with the approval of people that shouldn’t matter in our lives. What are the comments on social media? What does somebody say, that somebody said, that somebody said about me? The truth is that if we have a changed heart, if we are a Jesus follower, we should be seeking His approval instead of those around us. 

If that is truly our goal, truly our focus, it must change our day to day. If we are concerned with only what God thinks of us, and not what other people think, then we're going to live out our days pointing people to Him, and not worrying about the opinions of others. If we all had that mindset and that approach, I think our world would be a better place. 

Love you guys,

John