I Am Fully Pleasing

“Who Am I Really?” was the question we are exploring. The answer – “in Christ I am deeply loved, Fully Pleasing, totally forgiven, complete, and accepted.”  We know about the challenges of “being fully pleasing” to another human, our spouse, our siblings, our parents, etc.; but what does it take to be pleasing to God?  And not just “pleasing” but “fully pleasing.”  Our hope of being able to say I Am Fully Pleasing comes from the fact that this answer to “Who Am I Really?” is only possible if we are “in Christ.”

Of course, this idea just hammers home Merton’s words in his prayer: “But I believe that the desire to please [God] does in fact please [Him]. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.”  This idea in The Merton Prayer struck me so strongly since I had grown up with the belief that I Am Fully Pleasing to God ONLY if I never sinned!

Unfortunately, you and I are constant sinners, and we fall under the biblical rubric that “All [of us] have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God” [Romans 3:23, KJV].  This means that in order for me to say with any sense of honesty and sincerity I Am Fully Pleasing to the Lord, the words of The Merton Prayer above are my only hope!  When I desire, He is pleased!  Amazing, right?

These words, I Am Fully Pleasing, leave no room for being “unpleasing” to God.  I have three suggestions for how we can honestly stand before our Lord with these words on our lips.  First, there is the imago Dei in each of us which means when God looks upon us, He sees His own image, and that must indeed be pleasing to God. 

Second, there is the miraculous gift to us of God’s Son Jesus Christ. 

“Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!” (2 Peter 1:3 The Message).  So, according to the Apostle Peter, “getting to know, personally and intimately,” Jesus the Christ, brings pleasure to God.

To me this means a life of constant interaction with the Holy Spirit who is the advocate or paraclete for drawing us near to the Lord.  In fact, the Greek word parakletos is two words which literally mean “called alongside” and came to mean “defense attorney”.  When a defendant is being tried for his crime, as he stands before a judge, the person standing “alongside” – standing right next to him – is the “defense attorney” who advocates for his client.  Likewise, each of us will stand before God on the Day of Judgment, and thankfully, we will not be standing alone, the parakletos will be next to us, advocating on our behalf.  It is no accident that the word parakletos is translated “the Comforter” as one title of the Holy Spirit.  And with such an amazing defense attorney, each of us does have a chance one day to proclaim I Am Fully Pleasing to the Lord my God.

Third, there is this from 2 Corinthians 5:9, again from The Message:  “Cheerfully pleasing God is the main thing, and that’s what we aim to do, regardless of our conditions.” 

In answer to the question this blog has posed, “Who Am I Really?” we see clearly the challenge of living a life focused on intimacy with Christ with “the main thing” being able to “cheerfully” say with confidence – I Am Fully Pleasing.

[NOTE:  If your organization, church, or school would like a workshop/presentation on The Merton Prayer please use the contact tab and let me know!  I can Zoom all over the world and have done 90-minute, 3-hour, 5-hour, weekend, or five-day workshops/retreats.]

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