What does God want?
“What is God’s will for my life?”
“What is my purpose and calling?”
“What can I do to please God?”
In the New Testament, Jesus provides the answer to those questions by telling His followers to love God and love people. In the Old Testament, the prophet Micah—empowered by the Holy Spirit—summarized God’s will for Israel by saying:
“He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”
Micah 6:8 ESV
These words were penned during a time when God’s people were trying to please Him with sacrifices, offerings, and going through religious motions, while living lives of deception, violence, and pride. But as the prophet Hosea writes, “I [God] desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings.” (Hosea 6:6 NIV)
God is after our heart motives, not our outward religious activity or begrudging obedience.
Let’s break down what God desires of us:
Do justice. Doing justice requires faith and actions working together: helping the hurting, defending the weak, dealing fairly with the people we encounter, and speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. In other words, to do justice, we must love others as we love ourselves.
Love kindness. The mercy of God is an extreme kindness. And because we’ve been shown undeserved kindness by Him, we can show undeserved kindness to others. God desires these things more than endless “I’m sorry” speeches. God is kind to the grateful and the wicked (Luke 6:35), so we should be, too.
Walk humbly. Be teachable. Be moldable. Remember: You’re not God. You have limitations. You need a Creator and Savior. You’re only here because God spoke you into existence. So confidently embrace who you are, and who you are not, because it’s when we live fully surrendered to God that He does incredible things through us.
Seeking justice, loving kindness, and walking humbly—that is what God wants from us. So in a world that’s saturated with injustice, hatred, and arrogance, let’s be people marked by these three things.
First Things First
There are plenty of things in life that beg for our attention. Our days are filled with relationships and responsibilities, all of which take time.
In Jesus’ famous sermon in Matthew 6, He spends some time talking about the various things we give our attention to. He explains that instead of spending all of our time and energy worrying about our basic need and desires in life, we should first seek His kingdom and His righteousness. If we do that, everything else will fall into place.
So, what does it mean to seek God’s kingdom and His righteousness?
God’s kingdom is about God’s rule and reign over all of creation. His kingdom was unleashed during Jesus’ ministry on earth, and is now growing and expanding throughout the global Church. The work of the kingdom is to continue to tell others about the hope of Jesus, and to teach everything that Jesus has commanded.
To seek God’s righteousness is to desire to live the way God intended. It's to live according to God’s...