“I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants.” John 5:30 (GNT)
What really motivates me to get up in the morning? To go to work? To study hard? To serve and give and love others? To keep going when life gets stressful?
If I don’t want to fight stress all the time, I need to know my deepest motivation.
Why? Because mixed motivations will leave me feeling pulled in different directions. Jesus said, “No one can serve two masters” (Luke 16:13 NLT).
Even God can’t please everybody. When somebody’s praying for it to rain, someone else is praying for it to be sunny. As a manager for over 25 years, I knew that I was always disappointing somebody, because people often have different expectations. I can’t please everyone.
The Bible says the fear of man is a trap. It will capture my heart and mind and cause me to stumble. That’s why Jesus said in John 5:30, “I am not trying to do what I want, but only what he who sent me wants” (GNT). Jesus knew who he was trying to please.
If I'm not trying to please God, then in all likelihood, I'm trying to please a bunch of other people. It’s a lot easier and less stressful to decide I'm going to please God—because whatever I do that pleases him will always be the right thing. This is why Jesus was so resilient under stress. He only tried to please one person.
Whose approval are you depending on for your happiness? Who are you still trying to please? For some, it’s a parent who never showed approval or encouragement. For others, it may be a boss who’s impossible to please, no matter how hard you try.
But I am not a victim. I am as free as I choose to be. Nobody can pressure me into meeting their expectations without my permission.
When I live for an audience of one, I won’t be controlled by the fear of rejection. Instead, I'll be motivated by love and free to be the person God made me to be.
In Summary:
In John 5:30, Jesus models total alignment with the Father, acknowledging that genuine authority and peace stem from surrendering self-will to divine purpose rather than seeking personal acclaim. Navigating professional leadership, career demands, and personal relationships often exposes us to the trap of people-pleasing, where competing expectations generate chronic stress and internal division. Jesus remained remarkably resilient under scrutiny and pressure because His loyalty was never divided; He operated solely to fulfill the will of the One who sent Him. Choosing an "audience of one" cuts through the friction of seeking external validation, establishing true internal freedom and grounding my daily pursuits in identity rather than approval.
Bottom Line:
True resilience and peace come when I stop managing everyone else’s expectations and align my daily ambition exclusively to an audience of one.
Next Step:
Conduct a 24-hour "Approval Audit": Identify the single current decision, conversation, or professional commitment where I feel pulled by the fear of disappointing others, and explicitly redefine my primary objective around God’s alignment and core values rather than managing their reaction.
