doing his will? is that the right choice of words there? he says we have free will, but do his will? i'm confused

Yes..by doing His will.

But in order to

do His will

we must first Love God.



But in order

to Love God

we must first Know God.


We also serve God by serving one another.

What we do for the least of our brethren, we do also for God.

We often hear Christians claim to serve God but what service to God does the bible say to offer?

What is the quality and quantity of service that is an acceptable offering to God?

" how do they know that it's the service god wants"
This is where your logic breaks down. There is no knowledge. Religion is based on faith, not on knowledge.

Ergo, Christians serve god (not "service" him... Mary was the only one on record to do that) the bestest way they believe is the bestest.

(I.e. you will only read "I am a servant of God" and "I am in servitude to the Lord", and you will never read "I am a server of God" or "I am a service station manager in God's garage, when he needs a complete lube and oil or his plumbing fixed.")

(P.S. Please don't take me wrong, redy... I am making fun of bible-writers, and their crazy book, not of you.)

Many people are curious about what the Bible has to say about service. God expects those who love Him to provide service to others. By providing service to others, we become God's hands reaching out to others. God has a special place in His heart for the most vulnerable members of society and charges his followers with providing service to them.

Yes..by doing His will.

But in order to

do His will

we must first Love God.



But in order

to Love God

we must first Know God.


We also serve God by serving one another.

What we do for the least of our brethren, we do also for God.

I think the best approach is that "we should serve ourselves" and find ways to be helpful to others. That is first class service if you ask me. And just for that I will pop open a bottle of champagne..pour it in my flute....and salute you and everyone else for a great day of happiness and enjoyment! :)

The short and simple answer to that question ...
to serve humanity is to serve God.

Think about it.

From the story of the good Samariton, as a story with a moral I would guess that the message FROM THE BIBLE is to serve others, no matter what your station in life is.

Even if you have very little or even if you meet a stranger who needs help, you can serve others.

That's like a child thinking that simply by not being bad and destructive, that is actually contributing to something or something they should be rewarded for.

But that's exactly how a child thinks - "What (reward) is in it for me".

Stop hitting your sister (Why?) Please pick-up your toys. (Why?)

In each case the why refers to what will I gain OR what adverse reaction can I avoid.

Teach a child that love is dependent variable (it's dependent on behavior) and that child will "learn" to love a god and learn to distrust humans. That serves no one because love from god is conditional and love from humans cannot be trusted so what sevice will such a person provide - what purpose dose their life serve?

for me, it means revering God and obeying his commands, keeping his word, revering him as my creator, it also means serving his creations (mankind) with love

setting before him good deeds and good intents and a good heart, giving the credit to him and appreciating what he gives by using it to further aknowledge and credit him

Oh my - not exactly creation for creations sake is it.

Most children love to "create" with crayons, colord pencils, markers and they will spend much time in this endeavor and proudly show all who are intersted thier new creations.

But pay a child with a reward of value and soon the child looses interest, and tends to scribble in discontent out of oblication, or just stops coloring altogether.

The point is - the child created for creatsions sake and not for reward. Yet a god asks for bountiful praise, uncontested and unrivaled love and honor and continued service of same for his handiwork (which is not always so wonderful, ask the handicapped).

Then there's the reply about a child's thinking of "what's in it for me" Oh yes, so then god offers a positive reinforcement (eternal life) or a negative reinforcement (avoid hell by believing and serving with praise, worship and honor).

Well, some believe that humans were created in the image of god - and the fact that those people believe we are treated like children makes gods childish traits more apparent.

life serves the purpose of learning and growing,,,
love is not dependent upon behavior but consequence is

my parents loved me my whole life, yet they still disciplined me and they still taught me how to treat others and what treatment I was worth by others

If I had a child/husband/friend, whom I loved, but every time they drank they hauled off and wailed on my face

they would have to be out of my life unless/until their behavior changed, it would have nothing to do with whether I still loved them though, it would be a consequence of their actions,,

Separating the physical form from the personality (love the sinnner BS) is simply a way to quell the dissonance between belief and your behavior.

I love you but not your behavior so you are out of my life.

I love you but not your actions so you will not be treated with the same consideration I would give others whose actions I approve of.

I love you unconditionally, unless you don't love me the same way.

Tell me - what happens when you like gods behavior? God makes people to suffer - but you never hold him responsible for his actions.

There is obviously a double standard applied to love - love humans one way and god another. Is that an admission that humans are here NOW and can harm you NOW, so you must protect yourself but god is not here and can neither protect or harm you NOW?

Separating the physical form from the personality (love the sinnner BS) is simply a way to quell the dissonance between belief and your behavior.

I love you but not your behavior so you are out of my life.

I love you but not your actions so you will not be treated with the same consideration I would give others whose actions I approve of.

I love you unconditionally, unless you don't love me the same way.

Tell me - what happens when you don't like gods behavior? God makes people to suffer - but you never hold him responsible for his actions.

There is obviously a double standard applied to love - love humans one way and god another. Is that an admission that humans are here NOW and can harm you NOW, so you must protect yourself but god is not here and can neither protect or harm you NOW?

Unconditional love does not mean you have to 'like' the person or what the person has become by his or her own choosing. Unconditional love does not mean you have to put up with a person, or abide or accept his bad behavior.

Unconditional love is compassion and the sincere hope that person will find happiness and health. It does not require you to hang out with them.

Bad behavior is like disease. It is dysfunctional and unbalanced. It is a symptom of the lack of inner love. It is a sign of self hate. Sometimes it is cured or overcome. Sometimes people can change.

I consider humans much less evolved and wise than God, and I dont feel we were a creation for creations sake but a creation for the sake of glorifying God, being an extension of his love and grace

not at all, loving others does not require us to stop loving ourself enough to expect certain treatment and respect, we can love those who choose not to give us either but that doesnt mean we have to have them in our life


there IS such a thing as loving from a distance

of course IM not going to treat/react the same way to someone who gives me a hug as to someone who hits me,,thats nothing unreasonable and nothing to do with love,,,

And who decides what bad behavior is?

You say 'bad behavior is like a disease and it's dysfunctional and unbalanced' - how can you say that unless YOU are the one dictating what bad behavior is?

In the Christian faith, the individual is the one deciding what behavior is good or bad.

For example: MsHarmony says



Yet in the past she has also said that she does not force her children to feel that same way. I have to wonder if her children do not believe as she does if she would still love them or if one believed and another did not would she treat them differently?

As I said JB - bad behavior can be a subjective social norm or just subjective.

You know the 'bad behavior' that causes you to divorce the personality from the physical body does not have to involve you, does it? So what would be bad enough behavior, on the part of one of your children for you to treat that child differently -- to NOT reward that child with your 'gifts' or you presence or your support?

What is the child became an athiest or converted to the Jewish faith or simply came out of the closet? Would any of those thing force you to alter your gifts, presence or support?