What Is God’s Will For My Life – 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12 | Video Devotion with Dave Miers
Aug 17, 2026 25367
What is God’s will for my life? Paul gives a clear answer: your sanctification. In 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12, discover what it means to please God through lust, love and life—and how Jesus gives us forgiveness, strength and hope that we can change.
[Watch this week’s video devotion with Dave Miers]
What is God’s will for my life?
We often ask that question when we’re making a big decision:
Where should I live?
What job should I take?
Who should I marry?
We don’t have a Bible verse for every situation, but in 1 Thessalonians 4, God’s will is made very clear.
In verse three we read,
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification…”
Your sanctification.
That’s it, that’s God’s will for your life.
To understand a bit more about what it means to be sanctified, let’s read a bit more of the chapter.
Check out how Paul opens in verse 1,
“Finally, then, brothers [and sisters], we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more.” (1 Thessalonians 4:1 ESV)
The goal of the Christian life is to please God. The number one pursuit for those whom King Jesus has saved is that we live no longer for ourselves, but for him who lived for us, died for us and was raised again.
Paul is writing to Christians who are already trusting Jesus, and he can see evidence that they are seeking to please God. So his message isn’t, “You’ve failed in every possible way.” His message is: Good on you. Keep going. Do it more and more. Press on in holiness.
Holiness is closely connected to that word sanctification. It means being set apart for holy service to the Lord. It means living differently because we belong to Jesus. When Jesus says do something, we do it. When Jesus says don’t do something, we don’t do it. Not to earn salvation, but because salvation has already been freely given to us in Christ.
Paul then applies this call to three areas of life: lust, love and life.
1/ LUST
Paul writes:
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality.” (1 Thessalonians 4:3, ESV)
The Christian sexual ethic is that the proper place for sexual intimacy is between one man and one woman in the context of marriage. Anything outside God’s plans—including our actions, what we watch and even our thought life—is something from which we are called to abstain.
That word “abstain” is strong. Don’t work out how close you can get to immorality. Run from it. Control your body in holiness and honour.
This teaching was countercultural in Thessalonica, and it is countercultural today. But Christians are people who know God. We know the Creator who gives life and breath and everything. He knows why we were made. He knows how life works best. So we seek to please him rather than simply going along with the culture around us.
In verse 8, Paul warns us not to disregard this teaching. But he also reminds us that God gives us his Holy Spirit. We are not left to pursue holiness in our own strength. We can ask God to fill us with his Spirit and enable us to obey him.
2/ LOVE
Look at verses 9 and 10,
“Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more…” (1 Thessalonians 4:9–10 ESV)
What an encouragement!
These believers have already been taught by God how to love one another, and so Paul’s challenge to them is to keep going by loving one another “more and more”.
Christians ought to be strikingly different in the way we care for one another. We are called to faithfulness, generosity, and servanthood, to keep putting others’ needs ahead of our own.
3/ LIFE
Look at the final two verses in this section, from verse 11,
“…and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.” (1 Thessalonians 4:11–12 ESV)
Sometimes we think the Christian life needs to be filled with fireworks and big bold moments. Yet the aspiration here is “live quietly”, “mind your own affairs”.
The call to holiness is demonstrated in the everyday, ordinary things of life: faithfulness in the work of our hands, wisdom in the stewardship of our resources.
The quiet life that is pleasing to God can also be a witness to outsiders who don’t know God, as they see our commitment to God in both the big and the little things of life.
Here are some questions for you to consider
Am I seeking to please God in the areas of lust, love, and life? Where can I see God already changing me? And where am I still pleasing myself rather than Jesus?
The Good News is…
The Good News is that Jesus has already given himself fully for us. He lived the holy life we failed to live and died the death we deserved for all the ways we have been unholy. At the cross, Jesus took our sin and our shame upon himself. He rose again and now gives his Holy Spirit to everyone who trusts him. In Jesus there is forgiveness for our past, strength for today, and hope that we really can change. We do not pursue holiness to make God love us. In response to the love he has already shown us, we give ourselves fully to him. So keep trusting Jesus. Keep seeking to please him. Press on in holiness, more and more.
Further reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12
Rev. Dave Miers
President, Good News Unlimited