Living on Purpose: Do we care about what God wants?

Is God always happy? Well, let me see, this is an unusual question, but I would say probably not.

Since he is not made of flesh, we assume that he does not have emotions like us. But, on the other hand, we read about his demonstrations of compassion and anger, so I guess this is still up for debate. It is my opinion that some things please him and others cause him disappointment, and most of it is associated with the way people live.

Billy Holland

So, what do you think makes him happy? Well, again we have the Scriptures that reveal his thoughts, and these explain his desires. Remember, there was a time he became outraged when the people of Noah’s day were living like sinful barbarians, and he brought a flood that destroyed the whole world except for eight people. So we can clearly see that when individuals follow sin instead of submitting to his voice, this makes him very upset. Basically, he’s glad when we live for him and aggravated when we do whatever we want.

Here is a two-part question: Do you believe he is happy with you, and do you really care what he thinks about you? Anyone can take the time and learn about God and what he expects from us. Yes, there is a problem with the world’s lack of spiritual understanding, but there is also a huge issue with people who realize what is right but arrogantly refuse to do it. These individuals walk in the shadows and avoid God’s light on purpose because his holy truth exposes more than what they want to deal with. They know deep down that he is not happy with them, and yet they are content to live in denial far away from anything that will cause feelings of guilt.

You see, the Bible was given to us so that we could understand right and wrong and how much God wants us to be good. He is also not shy about explaining the consequences that will happen when we choose to be bad. One reason why it is so important to read his Word (and exactly why many do not even open it) is that it empowers us to live up to God’s standards while eliminating our excuses. Charles Stanley is quoted, “To discipline ourselves is to simply say no to our desires when they conflict with God’s will.”