What does God want from you?

This may be one of the most difficult questions someone can ask. Fortunately, the answer is not very complicated. God wants from you seven things:

+ God wants you to know that He exists. The first thing that God wants you to do is to stop believing that He exists. He wants you to know it from a personal direct experience. How do you achieve that? People who have had a personal experience with God agree in this: If you ask for it, you will receive it. Disgracefully, people only care about God when they or someone they know is suffering or about to die... that way, they lose the chance.

+ God wants you to get to know Him. God is all-powerful, omniscient, omnipresent and many other things, but He is like a person too. God has feelings, a mind and a personality —beyond human understanding, but a little understandable, after all. God would like to have a personal relationship with you, as one of His creations, but most of the time, you do not give Him a chance. Religious books, prayers and conversations with other believers can help you get to know God and understand what He wants from you and the world.

+ God wants you to respect His rules. Another point religious people agree on is this: God is the Creator and Owner of the world. In such capacity, He has given certain rules for you to follow. It does not matter if you call them commandments, laws, rules or any other. If you want to be a happy person, you should learn which are God's rules and abide by them. If you do, God will start giving you small but meaningful rewards, as other people receive every day. Oh! This includes respecting His Creation too.

+ God wants you to fulfil all your duties. One of the most misleading lies religious people must fight is the fact that some people think that believing in God exempts you from carrying out your daily duties by giving your best in any and all of them. It is just the opposite: you can recognize a true believer by the diligent way in which he or she carries out his daily tasks.

+ God wants you to love. As I have mentioned before, believing in God is not enough; but getting to know Him is not enough either, even if you respect any and all of God's rules and you carry out your duties with diligence. If you do not love, you will isolate yourself from the rest; and that is not a true religious life, but reducing yourself to living a fantasy.

+ God wants you to fight evil. Be very careful here: God does not need you to become the next world's superhero. Fighting evil means connecting with your fellow man, establishing strong bonds with them and becoming aware of what happens with their lives. Only if you do this, you will be able to correct, confront or warn your friends if they are in danger or wrongdoing... This is the real meaning of fighting evil. Yes, this does mean God wants you to get involved.

Lastly...

+ God wants you to be a happy person. God wants you to know that the promise of happiness is not something to be achieved in an afterlife or a paradise but now and here, where you are living now. If you dare to care about getting to know God, respecting His world and His rules ("take just what you need and you will always have everything you need", reads an old saying), carrying out your duties diligently and becoming concerned about your fellows, you will be a happy person. It is the logical consequence.

Knowledge + You + Religion