Do All To the Glory Of God
Jesus said, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will, he will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own” (John 7:17). The essential prerequisite to knowing the will of God is the willingness to do it. Suppose God’s will for your life is on the other side of a closed door and you ask, “What is it?” The critical question is, “Why do you want to know?” So you can decide whether or not you want to go through the door? If God is God, doesn’t He have the right to decide what is on the other side of the door? If we don’t give him that right He is no longer the Lord of our lives. George Mueller said:
I seek in the beginning to get my heart in such a state that it has no will of its own in regard to a given matter. Nine-tenths of the trouble with people is just here. Nine-tenths of the difficulties are overcome when our hearts are ready to do the Lord’s will. When one is in that state, it is usually but a little way to the knowledge of what His will is.
If you desire to do the will of God two other questions must be considered. First, “Will God be glorified if I do it?” We glorify God when we bear fruit (John 15:8). This includes the fruit of the Spirit as well as the fruit of reproduction. If what we are doing cannot be done without violating the fruit of the Spirit, then it is best that we don’t do it. This is the greatest test of our faith in public. In the face of temptation or hostile opposition, can we continue living by the Spirit, or will we lose our composure and do the deeds of the flesh? You are in the will of God if you maintain your position in Christ and let the fruit of the Spirit be evident in your life. As long as we are within the moral boundaries of God, Paul says, “’Everything is permissible’ – but not everything is beneficial” (1 Cor. 10:23). In exercising our own freedom, we do not have the right to violate another person’s conscience. We must restrict our freedom for the sake of the weaker Christian and always consider the good of others.
Second, Can I do what I am doing and be a positive witness for the Lord Jesus Christ? Paul says, “Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone. To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews . . . I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessing” (1 Corinthians 9:19,20,22,23). If you are compromising your witness, then you cannot be in the center of God’s will.
Dr. Neil
For Spanish, see http://www.ficmm.org/blog
