At some point, nearly every believer asks the question.

What does God actually want from me?

Does He want me to go to church more? Read the Bible more? Give more money? Pray longer? Work harder? Stop doing certain things? Start doing others?

Those things may have a place in the Christian life, but they can also cause us to miss the larger answer. God is not primarily looking for religious activity. He wants us.

Jesus was asked which commandment was the greatest. His answer went straight to the heart:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

God does not want a small corner of our lives. He does not want Sunday morning while we keep Monday through Saturday for ourselves. He wants our hearts, our minds, our priorities, our decisions, and our obedience.

That begins with faith.

Hebrews 11:6 says, “And without faith it is impossible to please Him.”

Before we start asking what we can do for God, we must first trust Him. Christianity is not a system for earning God’s approval. We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. We cannot work our way into salvation, and we cannot impress God with religious effort.

But the person who has truly trusted Christ will begin to ask a different question.

Now that I belong to Him, how should I live?

God wants us to obey Him.

Jesus said, “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15).

That is remarkably simple. Love for Christ is not merely something we say or feel. It shows itself in obedience.

We sometimes make obedience more complicated than it is. We ask God to reveal His will while ignoring something He has already clearly told us in Scripture. We pray for direction while refusing to forgive someone. We ask God to use us while holding tightly to a sin we do not want to surrender.

Sometimes the next thing God wants from us is simply obedience to what we already know.

God also wants holiness.

Peter wrote, “Like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior” (1 Peter 1:15).

Holiness does not mean we become perfect overnight. It means our lives begin to belong to God rather than to sin. Things that once did not bother us begin to bother us. We become more aware of our words, attitudes, choices, relationships, and motives.

The Holy Spirit begins changing us from the inside.

That change includes repentance. When God shows us that something is wrong, He does not want excuses. He wants us to agree with Him, confess it, turn from it, and continue following Christ.

God wants humility.

Micah asked the question plainly: “And what does the LORD require of you?”

The answer included walking humbly with God (Micah 6:8).

Humility recognizes that God is God and we are not. We do not tell Him how He should run our lives. We do not reshape Scripture to fit what we already want. We come to His Word willing to be corrected.

That can be difficult.

There will be times when Scripture disagrees with us.

God wins.

There will be times when obedience costs us something.

God still wins.

There will be times when we do not understand why God allows something.

We trust Him anyway.

God also wants us to love other people.

Jesus did not stop after saying we should love God. He continued, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39).

That means Christianity cannot be lived entirely inside our own heads. If our Bible knowledge never produces patience, mercy, forgiveness, generosity, compassion, and concern for others, something is wrong.

John wrote, “Let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth” (1 John 3:18).

Love does something.

God wants us to serve.

He has given every believer opportunities to help someone, encourage someone, teach someone, pray for someone, give to someone, or point someone toward Christ. You do not need a title, pulpit, degree, or ministry organization before God can use you.

Sometimes serving God looks very ordinary.

It may be sitting beside someone who is hurting.

It may be helping a neighbor.

It may be telling someone what Christ has done for you.

It may be quietly doing the right thing when nobody notices.

God notices.

God also wants us to know Him.

This may be the part we overlook most often. God does not merely want workers. He wants His children to know Him.

Jesus prayed, “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).

Read the Bible because you want to know Him.

Pray because you want to speak with Him.

Obey because you trust Him.

Worship because He is worthy.

Serve because you love Him.

The Christian life is not supposed to become an endless list of religious chores.

So what does God want from you?

He wants you to trust His Son.

He wants your heart.

He wants your obedience.

He wants you to turn from sin.

He wants you to grow in holiness.

He wants you to love others.

He wants you to serve faithfully.

And above everything else, He wants you to know Him and follow Him.

Maybe the question is not really, “What does God want me to do?”

Maybe the better question is:

“Lord, what part of my life have I not yet given to You?”