“As a result, they do not live the rest of their earthly lives for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God.” (1 Peter 4:2 NIV)
What is the will of God and what does it mean to be living for the will of God? How can we be sure that we are following the will of God and not our human desires? We are living for the will of God when we follow Christ’s example of living, loving, and serving. There are three main ways to be living for the will of God.
Obeying the Truth
The first area where we choose to live for the will of God is to know and apply the truth in the Bible. When we read and meditate on the Word of God, a process of transformation is constantly taking place. We learn to take every thought captive in obedience to Christ—this means to pause and examine it in the light of God’s truth. If it is true, pure, and reflects what God says about the issue, we can dwell on this thought. But if it does not pass the filter of God’s word, we should ignore it and stop dwelling on it.
The truths in God’s Word do not only change our thoughts, but they also change our attitudes, perspectives, and influence our choices and decisions. This is the process of obeying the truth. When we learn to apply Biblical truths in our situations and relationships, the internal transformation we have experienced manifests outward. And this leads to a sincere love for each other. (1 Peter 1:22)
Doing Good
Obeying the truth results in a righteous life characterized by good deeds. Faith always produces good deeds. The will of God is for us to silence the ignorant talk of foolish people by doing good. (1 Peter 2:15). There are several other characteristics of a righteous life following the will of God:
- Showing proper respect to everyone
- Loving the family of the believers
- Fearing God
- Honoring the authorities
- Not repaying evil with evil or insult with insult
- Repaying evil with blessing because you were called to this
- Being sympathetic, compassionate, and humble
- Watching our speech
- Seeking and pursuing peace
- Forgiving
- Serving and meeting needs.
Keeping a Clear Conscience
The water baptism symbolizes a pledge of a clear conscience toward God. We should be careful to always keep a clear conscience towards God and man. Every day we can ask God to test our hearts and expose what is there, so we can repent and maintain a clear heart. Our hearts are deeply cherished by God because everything we do flows from them. That’s why we should guard them above all else (Proverbs 4:23).
It is easy in our day-to-day relationships to be offended, disappointed, and hurt. We should be quick to forgive the hurtful actions and words of others in our hearts because the will of God is for us to maintain a pure heart. God’s love can flow freely only in a pure heart, free from malice and resentment. Being a vessel of God’s love and sharing His heart with the world is how we are living for the will of God.
Prayer
Lord, I want to live the rest of my earthly life not for my human desires, but for the will of God. Please, help me to know and obey the truth, to do good and keep a clear conscience towards You and man. Please, help me to follow the example of Christ and live a righteous and God-pleasing life. Amen.
