What Does God Want?

What does God want? I think that that’s a rather important question. He will, after all, hold us accountable for our choices. So, what will He be looking for on that day when He reviews our lives? 

There are many different answers floating around out there. There are those who think that the most important thing is to have a clear grasp of the truth. God wants us to know, believe and completely embrace right doctrine. And these folk show that that is their priority by how they debate such things with other folk. Or maybe they don’t bother debating. Maybe they just jump to condemning others.

Then, there are those who champion the cause of obedience. The God of the Bible clearly demands that we do whatever it is that He tells us to do. Or so we are told. These folk follow that up with their own brand of condemnation. 

Of course, there are those who have adopted one or the other of these options and don’t condemn anyone else. No, instead they condemn themselves. They feel so very guilty. And they feel that because, as they see it, they are utter failures when it comes to what God really wants. So, they beat themselves up. And you can see the bruises on their souls. 

I suppose there are other options out there and not just grasping truth and being so very obedient. But these other options aren’t all that different in their results. They have their own kinds of condemnation. 

I hope that you can see that something is wrong here. Let me offer a different opinion for you to consider. 

It seems to me that what God really wants is to be loved. Oh sure, holding to the truth is important. And so is obedience. They both have a place in all of this. But neither of them is an end in themselves. Neither of them is the goal that we should be shooting for. The real goal is simply to love God. 

 

Now, am I becoming one of those despised liberals? Am I at the beginning of some great slide into compromise leading to unbelief? Well, I really don’t think so. Actually, if I may be so bold, I think that it’s the exact opposite. You see, there is this place in the Bible where Jesus talks about this. This is where He answers our question, ‘What does God want?’ 

And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ Mark 12:28–30 

‘Jesus, what’s really important?’ 

‘Loving God with all you’ve got.’ 

Yeah, I’m not going liberal – whatever that means. I’m actually taking the Bible seriously. Please note here the words ‘most important’. Other bits of the Bible are still important. But this bit is ‘most important’. So, whatever else a Christian is to be working at, the goal of all that work is supposed to be loving God. That is what is ‘most important’. 

And just to be clear, the biblical idea of love has affection and devotion at its heart. Affection and devotion. To God. So, yes, there is to be a certain commitment which is to be chosen and then put into action. But mixed in with all of that is to be this feeling, this emotion: affection. Loving God feels a certain way. Without this feeling, this emotion, something is wrong. A key ingredient is missing. More on this some other time. 

Now, do we do a good job of this loving God with all we’ve got? No, not really. There’s still too much selfishness in all of us. But we don’t have to get all twisted up about that. You see, our God loves us. Yeah, really. Complete with affection and devotion. To us. And that love is ours because of Jesus. So, as long as He lives to intercede for us, God’s love for us is sure. 

So, what do we do with this? Well, I think that the first thing is to consider our lives in terms of this goal, in terms of loving the God who already loves us so. I suspect that there will need to be some changes. Maybe getting to the place of seeing obedience or truth (or some other good thing) as a means to this goal and not as the goal itself. That’s something not to fret over but to ask for. You know, prayer for God’s grace. And then, relax. The Spirit will hear your prayers. He’ll guide you into the change that you desire. Remember, we’re saved (from things like seeing obedience or truth as the goal) by grace not works. Relax and enjoy knowing and loving God.