There are three different types of God’s Will.
What is God’s Will for everyone?
The first is God’s will for everyone as defined in God’s Will meaning. Since God has sovereign control over all of mankind, His deepest desire is for all people to have a personal relationship with Him or be saved.
What is God’s Will in our lives?
The second type of God’s Will for you and me is called the “specific type.” And when you answer the question above, the answer depends on who you are and the specific gifts and talents that have been given to you. And in addition to that, there is your calling for how you use that specific gift or talent.
God gives great spiritual gifts to each of His children. The gifts are listed in the following Scriptures: 1 Corinthians 12:8-11, Ephesians 4:7, 11-12, 1 Peter 4:10-11, and Romans 12:6-8.
Who gives us these specific types of God’s will and how are they used?
Specific Types of God’s Will are given to us by the Holy Spirit
The Holy Spirit gives each gift to us according to the portion that He wills to give to each person (1 Cor 12:11). Like servings of food at the table, you may give a smaller portion to a child and a larger portion to an adult. Food preferences, the serving size, and the appetite they have determine the portion of food given. You know how much of it they can handle.
A gift that God has given you, in a full portion, is a gift that I may have but in a smaller portion. Each gift is needed at different times or reasons. You and I have the gift of encouragement. I write an occasional note to encourage ladies in their faith. You lead a weekly worship service to encourage others to enter into the presence of God and praise the Lord with their voices.
How are these gifts, specific types of God’s Will, used?
Peter tells us that
“these gifts are used to serve one another as good stewards of God’s varied grace.”
1 Peter 4:10 ESV
These could be gifts of serving in the kitchen by putting out cookies and coffee for fellowship time. Or serving in the nursery to care for the wee ones.
Gifts are used to equip the saints to build up the body of Christ (Eph 4:12 ESV). The gift of teaching is an example. You may use your specific type of God’s Will with a gift of teaching to lead a group of youth on a Sunday evening to challenge them to grow in Christ. And another may lead a small group of believers at work to study God’s Word early in the morning prior to work starting. I use my gift of teaching to lead women in a Bible study one evening a week.
All gifts should be used to bring glory to God through Jesus Christ (1 Pet. 4:11 ESV). They should not be used to puff you up. When you use these gifts to honor God, you receive a blessing by sharing them with others.
Isn’t it amazing to serve God who allows us to use the gifts we have been given in so many different ways?
Third Type of God’s Will
In God’s Will meaning, there is this third type of God’s Will called, Free Will. God gives us the ability to make choices in life. These decisions need to adhere to God’s commands and reflect His holiness. But He allows the freedom to choose wisely, and even not so wisely.
1. Free Will Choice of Salvation
The choice of salvation is a type of Free Will that we have. We can choose to accept or reject God. His sovereign Will desires to have all people come to know Him. But you have the Free Will choice to make that decision for or against His gift of grace given to you (See John 3:16, Ephesians 2:8,9 ESV).
2. Free Will Choice of Marriage or not
Secondly, we can choose to be married or single (1 Cor 7:7 ESV). Paul talks about in this verse how being married or being single is a gift that God gives.
Within this gift of singleness or marriage, God gives us guidelines that we should follow, and for good reason. God commands that we should be married to another believer (2 Cor. 6:14 ESV). Being married to an unbeliever can turn a believer’s heart away from God. King Solomon was an example of this (1 Kings 11:4 ESV).
3. Our Career is another Free Will Choice
A career is another free will choice that we can make based on the talents and abilities that God has given us. We can do this work heartily, in whatever we do, to the Lord (Colossians 3:23). However, this work shouldn’t be something that wouldn’t bring glory to God (selling drugs, cheating others out of money, or using women or men for sex, for example).
Even within the choice of career, there may be times that God allows a change to happen in your career that will bring great glory to Him. Writing again is a result of a change in my job a few years ago. You can learn more about what happened and my business story which explains why I started God’s Plan Guided Steps.
There are many other free will choices that God allows us. He is so kind to give us options to choose as long as they align with keeping His commandments.
Summary of Types of God’s Will: Our Freedom in Christ
We learned that the types of God’s Will are God’s sovereign will, our specific will, and our free will choices. Each one is important in understanding God’s Will meaning.
This verse summarizes the freedom we have in Christ with boundaries.
Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God.
1 Peter 2:16 ESV
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Reflection Thoughts:
- Praise God for His sovereign Will. When there is chaos around you, knowing that He is in control is so comforting. Thank Him for how He has provided for you recently.
- Have you accepted God’s gift of salvation? If you have not, you can find out how to know about peace with God. If you have already accepted Him, that is wonderful! Take time to thank Him for this gift. Pray for those in your life that you know who need Him.
- What spiritual gifts have you been given? List them out. Prayerfully consider how you can use those gifts in the church to build up the believers.
- What other free will choices do you need to make? Pray about marriage or singleness and/or a career. James 1:5 says, “if we lack wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.” (ESV)
Free Resources
Check out the Resource Library for free resources! There are Bible Verse cards that you can download and print for you to keep in the forefront of your mind. Put them up on your mirror, and memorize one a week or month. In order to save space, some of the verses are abbreviated on the cards. So if you want to memorize the longer version, go for it! There are also a couple of cute bookmarks as well for printing.
Let me know what you think of these resources. If you have other ideas or resources you’d like, please email me and let me know.
