Welcome to the Daily Blade. The word of God is described as the sword of the spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

All right, welcome back. Day four of our deep dive into Galatians chapter one. We're just going to do one verse. Again, Paul has um he's been hounded his entire ministry that all kinds of accusations, all kinds of accusations, that he's not a real apostle for these reasons, because of his past, or because he has stepped away from the group of the Pharisees. And in Galatians 1 10, he has this verse. For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. Guys, I have one verse on my desk, and this is the verse that I have on my desk. And let me tell you why I have this one and only verse on my desk. There are very, very many, many, many important verses. There's no doubt about that. But when I'm sitting at my desk and I'm putting my sermon together and I'm wrapping things up on a Thursday night before 722 starts, and I'm looking at the hard text in the scriptures, I have to ask myself before I get up and teach this word, am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? You see, I know everybody thinks they're tough, but we all can be tempted to seek the approval of man. We can all be driven by this really silly, like middle school kind of question, do people like me? Well, the reality is that one day we will stand before God and we will give an account for how we handled our life. The book of Hebrews says that I will stand before the Lord one day and give an account on how I led this church and how I handled his word. Let me tell you something that helps me when I am tempted to do something or say something that is not in line with Christ, but is in line with pleasing people. I think about that day where I stand before the Lord and have to give an account. And I have just pre-decided that I'm gonna say what the Bible says and I'm gonna do what the Bible says. I'm not saying I'm perfect, I screw up all the time. But I refuse to allow the disapproval of some other human beings to drive me to one day when I have to stand before the Lord and give an account, say anything other than, God, I was just trying to say what you said. So let me ask you this. Are you trying to please man? Like, are you are you afraid of the emotions of your wife? Therefore, you tiptoe around at home instead of lovingly lead like you need to. That's an approval problem. Are you more concerned about likes and shares than character and integrity? That's an approval problem. Do you put more weight on your annual review than the day of judgment? That is an approval problem. You see, true freedom is only found in the gospel. You see, Paul says, if I was trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ. And this is very counterintuitive. But the most free that you will ever be is when you shackle yourself to Jesus. The most free you will ever be is when you bend your knee to Jesus. The most free that you will ever be is not trying to be in control of your own life, but hand the reins of your life over to Jesus and then act like it. And then one of the things that we're going to find here in the book of Galatians is that it is for freedom that we have been set free. And Paul is the most free man that you'll ever see live. In the book of Philippians, he has the audacity to say this: to live is Christ, to die is gain. And what that means is he was in prison and he was not just going to try to save his skin, he was going to live an obedient life to Christ. And he was saying, Listen, if you guys kill me, neat. I will be face to face with God Almighty, and I can't wait for that moment. And if you let me live, neat, because I got a lot of work to do for the kingdom of God. I mean, I dare you today to take a long look in the mirror and ask yourself the question, Am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? And I've got really good news is that you don't really have to seek the approval of God because God already approves of you in his Son Jesus Christ. What you do have to do, what I have to do is quit comparing ourselves to everybody else, quit being so insecure in who we are that we feel like we need the applause of man for our own ego and look to Christ and Christ alone, who, if you put your faith in him, he has already placed his approval on you. The essence of the gospel is that his approval precedes your performance because by grace you put your faith in him. Men, I encourage you, quit seeking the approval of man and seek the approval of God. The way that you receive the approval of God is you receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, and with the Spirit of God in you, you walk in a manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Amen. Thank you for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five star rating and review. Stay sharp.