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1 Thessalonians 2:4
ESV but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.
NIV 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.
NASB but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not intending to please people, but to please God, who examines our hearts.
CSB Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts.
NLT For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.
KJV But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

What does 1 Thessalonians 2:4 mean?

Paul indicates that he had been approved by God to be a steward of the gospel, meaning God had entrusted the gospel to Paul's care. The word "approved" means to be validated through testing. Paul's many trials as a herald of the gospel demonstrated his genuineness as a guardian of the gospel. As someone entrusted by God to spread the gospel, Paul did not speak to please humans, but to honor God. He was aware that God examines a person's motives.

In Galatians 1:10–12 Paul writes: "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. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ."
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