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God's Will
(Series 1, Part 2, Teaching #2)
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God's Will
There are only two paths in life: one where the will of God is followed, and one where the will of self is enthroned. The first leads to fulfillment; the second, to emptiness. The first is the way of virtue; the second, the way of vice. Between them lies every degree of character—every choice that shapes the soul toward holiness or hardens it in sin.
Pride, the oldest and greatest of vices, whispers that you should follow your own way, that your desires should take precedence over God's. But what greater tragedy than to cherish your own will over the will of the One who formed you? “The one thing God wants of all intellectual beings is to sacrifice their will to God’s will” (St. Thomas Aquinas). To do otherwise is to resist the very hands that seek to shape you into something beautiful.
Even Christ, the perfect Son, did not cling to His own will, saying, “I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me” (John 6:38). If the Son of God Himself embraced obedience, how much more should we? “Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will” (St. Thérèse of Lisieux)—not merely acknowledging it, not agreeing with it in principle, but doing it—fully, joyfully, and without reservation.
But here is the challenge: to follow God’s will, you must first know God’s will. And to know God’s will, you must know Christ. His life, His teachings, His example—all reveal what the Father desires for you. This is why the Scriptures, the saints, and the wise of every age have spoken of the virtues—the characteristics of Christ Himself. For if you seek to fulfill the calling of becoming the person God wills, you must first understand the character God wills.
Too many spend their lives so fixated on where they’ve made the wrong turns, they never get on with making the right ones. Virtue gives you the tools to gain victory over your vices and rightly align the character-qualities of your soul with the will of God. For the race is not won by looking back. Nor is it won by standing still. The way forward is found in virtue.
And yet, many hesitate, fearing that God’s will might cost them too much. What if surrendering to His will requires sacrifice? What if it calls for suffering? What if obedience demands that I let go of the things I desire most? But here is the deeper truth: it is not God’s will that robs you, but your own. It is not His plan that leads to emptiness, but yours. The more tightly you cling to your own will, the more restless and unfulfilled you will be. But the moment you let go—the moment you trust, the moment you surrender—then, and only then, will you taste true freedom.
God’s will may lead through storms, through deserts, or through silence. It may challenge your preferences, undo your expectations, and call you to surrender your plans entirely. But God’s will is never without purpose. Every valley He leads you through is carved with grace. Every trial He allows becomes a forge for your sanctification. To surrender to His will is not to lose yourself—it is to find your true self in Him.
The choice is yours. But know this: the narrow path—the way of virtue, the way of surrender, the way of Christ—is the only path that leads to the fulfillment you seek. Not just in this life, but for eternity.
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Related Scripture
“For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me.” — John 6:38 (NRSVue)
“Then he said to them all, ‘If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.’” — Luke 9:23 (NRSVue)
“Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” — Matthew 6:10 (NRSVue)
“Anyone who resolves to do the will of God will know whether the teaching is from God or whether I am speaking on my own.” — John 7:17 (NRSVue)
“And the world and its desire are passing away, but those who do the will of God live forever.” — 1 John 2:17 (NRSVue)
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” — Matthew 7:21 (NRSVue)
“Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (NRSVue)
“Whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” — Mark 3:35 (NRSVue)
“If you will only obey the Lord your God, by diligently observing all his commandments that I am commanding you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth; all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, if you obey the Lord your God: Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the field. Blessed shall be the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your ground, and the fruit of your livestock, both the increase of your cattle and the issue of your flock. Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.” — Deuteronomy 28:1-6 (NRSVue)
“So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” — Ephesians 5:17 (NRSVue)
“But be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves.” — James 1:22 (NRSVue)
“Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.” — Ephesians 5:15-17 (NRSVue)
"God in the beginning created human beings and made them subject to their own free choice. If you choose, you can keep the commandments; loyalty is doing the will of God." — Ben Sira 15:14-16 (NABRE)
Related Quotes
“The one thing God wants of all intellectual beings is to sacrifice their will to God’s will.” — St. Thomas Aquinas
“Holiness consists simply in doing God’s will, and being just what God wants us to be.” — St. Therese of Lisieux
“The safest place to be is in the center of God's will.” — Corrie Ten Boom
“The whole duty of man is summed up in obedience to God's will.” — George Washington
“We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us.” — St. Teresa of Avila
“If we are truly devoted to doing God's will, pain and pleasure won't make any difference to us.” — Brother Lawrence
“A soul who is really resigned to God's will does not become attached to any created thing because [one] sees clearly that all things are nothing except God.” — St. Henry Suso
“There are times when He Himself allows terrible sufferings, and then again there are times when He does not let me suffer and removes everything that might afflict my soul. These are His ways, unfathomable and incomprehensible to us. It is for us to submit ourselves completely to His holy will. There are mysteries that the human mind will never fathom here on earth; eternity will reveal them.” — St. Faustina
“To choose suffering makes no sense at all; to choose God's will in the midst of our suffering makes all the sense in the world.” — Oswald Chambers
“I trust in you, my Jesus. I place my poor soul in your hands – mold me according to Your Divine will.” — St. Mother Cabrini
“Holiness is doing God's will with a smile.” — St. Mother Teresa
“I just want to do God’s will.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” — Hudson Taylor
“If, devout soul, it is your will to please God and live a life of serenity in this world, unite yourself always and in all things to the divine will. Reflect that all the sins of your past wicked life happened because you wandered from the path of God’s will.” — St. Alphonsus Liguori
“Do you know who the upright of heart are? They are those who wish what God wishes. Therefore, do not try to twist God's will to your own but correct your will to that of God. The will of God is a rule of conduct. By it you have the means of being converted and of correcting your evil ways.” — St. Augustine
“However high be your endeavors, unless you renounce and subjugate your own will - unless you forget yourself and all that pertains to yourself - not one step will you advance on the road to perfection.” — St. John of the Cross
“Why, then, did God give them free will? Because free will, though it makes evil possible, is also the only thing that makes possible any love or goodness or joy worth having. A world of automata -of creatures that worked like machines- would hardly be worth creating. The happiness which God designs for His higher creatures is the happiness of being freely, voluntarily united to Him and to each other in an ecstasy of love and delight compared with which the most rapturous love between a man and a woman on this earth is mere milk and water. And for that they've got to be free. Of course God knew what would happen if they used their freedom the wrong way: apparently, He thought it worth the risk. (...) If God thinks this state of war in the universe a price worth paying for free will - that is, for making a real world in which creatures can do real good or harm and something of real importance can happen, instead of a toy world which only moves when He pulls the strings - then we may take it it is worth paying.” — C.S. Lewis
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