A couple of weeks, I
preached a lesson on “The Transfiguration of Jesus Christ on the Mountaintop.”
In that story, we learned how important it is to set aside prayer time and
prayer partners who can keep us accountable and encouraged. Jesus often
withdrew from the busyness of life with some of his closest friends (Peter,
James and John) to pray and express his anguish and how overwhelmed he was
(Matt 26: 37 – 38, Luke 9:28). Through prayer and Scripture reading, we get to
discover God’s will and purpose for our lives. Jesus always knew God’s will for
His life, yet He still took the time to pray asking for the strength to accept
God’s will (Luke 22: 40 – 43). Besides prayer, which should always be first and
foremost, how can disciples of Christ determine whether something is God’s will
for their lives?
A
few people reached out to me asking to share with them the list of 7 questions
I presented during that lesson – 7 questions to help us determine whether
something/someone is God’s will for our lives. There are many voices out there,
including our own sometimes, that may adversely influence the choices we make
and how we live our lives. I believe the following questions can help us better
determine God’s will for our lives:
- Does this promote or hinder my joy in Christ Jesus?
- Paul taught us in Philippians 4: 6 – 7 that God’s will for our lives is to be joyful. Therefore, I do not believe that our creator would want us to do something or be part of anything that robs us of our joy of salvation in Christ Jesus
- Does it encourage me to be holy or immoral?
- The Bible is clear about the importance of holiness in the life of a believer (1 Thess 4:13, Heb. 12:4), and God would never want you involved with immoral things that can compromise your holiness.
- Is it going to help me be more grateful and content?
- This life can push us to want more and more and never be grateful and content with how blessed we currently are. It is God’s will for us to live grateful and content lives (1 Thess 5:18)
- Will it keep me humble or make me more prideful?
- Humility is a virtue that God desires for all believers to foster and exhibit in their spiritual journey (Phil 2:3, Ja 4:6). God would not want us to be in a position/situation that makes us arrogant and prideful
- Does it help me convey the love of God to my neighbors?
- All believers are called to love God and their neighbors. Love must always be at the center of all we do because love is how the world knows we are of God (1 John 4, 1 Cor. 13, john 13: 35)
- Does it help me focus on serving others or only myself?
- God’s will for us is not to be selfish, but to use our talents and blessings to serve others and the Church (Gal 5:13, Mark 10:45, Matt 25: 14 – 46)
- Does it promote or hinder my salvation in Christ Jesus?
- God’s ultimate desire for all of us is to
be saved. He would never want us involved with anything that could potentially
compromise the salvific work of Jesus Christ.
(1 Timothy 2: 3 – 4, Matt 18:9)