In life, there are many things telling you what to do. Advertisements shout to buy this or that. Family and friends tell you what they want. Your boss has instructions for you. Nearly everywhere you turn, there’s something telling you what to do. With all of this noise, it can be hard to know what to do.

To get direction, don’t focus on these competing voices. Instead, think about the life God wants you to live. What life does God want us to live?

God wants us to live a life of love, kindness, charity, gratitude, and faith. Here is the type of life God wants you to live.

1. God wants you to live a life focused on following the Lord.

In chapter two of the book of Matthew, the disciples ask, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”

And Jesus replies, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ He says, “This is the first and greatest commandment.”

This was also the first commandment that Moses brought down from the mountain: “You shall have no other Gods before me.” Live your life with God at the center of it.

This can be challenging when you’re busy with work, family, and other obligations, but you must put God first.

2. God wants you to be kind to others.

In addition to focusing on God, you also need to be kind to his creation. Jesus continues to say that the second most important commandment is to ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ This applies to family and strangers.

Find ways to give kindness into the world. This can be as simple as letting in another car when you’re on the freeway or opening the door for someone else.

It can also mean offering kind words to your loved ones and being patient when they are upset.

3. God wants you to prioritize love.

Loving God, others, and yourself are the most important things you can do with the gift of life that God has given you. When thinking about what kind of life God wants you to live, you must think about love.

Chapter 13 of the Book of Corinthians has one of the most famous sections about love.

Its verses that start out with “Love is patient, love is kind” are a staple for wedding ceremonies. But if you want to really understand this part of the Bible, you should look at the verses leading up to that section.

At the beginning of this chapter, St Paul the Apostle says that even if you speak in tongues, have the gift of prophecy, and have faith that moves mountains, you have nothing if you don’t have love.

He continues to say that love is more important than our actions. In particular, he explains that even if you give everything to the poor, you gain nothing if you don’t have love.

With every decision you make, think about the role of love. Are you being loving to God, others, and yourself?

If not, what can you change to bring love to the center of your life? This chapter ends by saying, “And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

4. God wants you to live a life of charity.

At the time when Paul was writing the letter to the Corinthians, there were many different words for love.

The English language doesn’t have all of these words, but if you want to understand how to be more loving, you need to think about how the different meanings behind the word love.

One type of love focuses on selfless, empathetic love extended to all people. Eventually, this concept led to the Latin word “Caritas,” which became the English word for charity.

Many biblical scholars say that this is the type of love mentioned in Corinthians.

A life of love is a life of charity.

Find ways to give to others, but again, make sure that love is in your heart. If you donate your time at a soup kitchen every day, but you despise everyone you serve, you are not living the life that God wants you to live.

To be faithful, you must love his creations — and that includes yourself.

5. God wants you to use his word as a guide.

To find out more about how God wants you to live your life, look to the Bible.

Psalms 119:105 says, “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

Read the Bible. Go to church and listen to sermons. Join Bible study groups. Help the church. Find ways to discover more about God’s word, and use that as a light to find the best path forward.

Remember that humans cannot understand the ways of the Lord.

As Isiah 55:8-9 says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways. And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

When life is hard and some prayers go unanswered, it can be tempting to get mad at God or lose faith.

In these times, think about Job. He had to deal with unmerited suffering. Although he was faithful, he lost his possession, his children, and his health. But through this all, he didn’t let his faith waiver.

Ultimately, he accepted that nothing could stop the plans of God. We may not be able to understand why things have happened, but we should accept our lives and know that God has a plan, even if it’s too big for us to understand.