Our Will Verses God’s Will
You shall have no other gods before me.
Exodus 20:3
Are we sometimes sharing the throne with God when we choose our will over God’s will? We make many choices according to our will which are in agreement with God, and we make many choices in life which is according to our will that are not in conflict with the Lord’s will. However, when we choose do something that is our will, and it conflicts with what God has called us to do, then we are putting ourselves first.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24) The question is, do we really deny self to follow Christ? We should always do what the Lord has called us to do and we deny self if necessary. When we are close to Christ with our hearts filled with his divine love, we never deny self because the desire in our hearts, motivates us to whatever the Lord has called us to do.
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20) The apostle Paul denied self and lived for Christ by following the Spirit. And we can do the same if we are following the Spirit. When we give Christ priority, we will deny self to serve Christ. Many times, we make daily choices that are in agreement with God, but we always ask Christ to be us, and to guide us to be a light on a hill.
Satan knows our weaknesses and he will tempt us to justify our will, when at the same time Christ has called us to his will. That is why it is necessary to be motivated by our hearts filled with God’s love, because then we are motivated to always do the Lord’s, because it’s our hearts desire.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him and he will make your paths straight. (Proverbs 3:5-6) When we have a close relationship with the Lord, we trust the Lord with all our hearts, which means we trust his will over our will. This is faith that pleases God and it brings divine peace to us.
Today trust the Lord fully in every situation, and pray Christ will guide you through your day.
Prayer: Lord guide me to follow your will at all times. Whatever I am doing I pray it will be your will, and that you will always be with me making my paths straight. In Jesus name, Amen