Saints LightWhy Were We Made?
God made you out of love so you could know Him, love Him and serve Him, and be happy with Him forever. That is why nothing less than God ever fully satisfies.
Every good catechism starts where the human heart starts: with the question of purpose. The old Baltimore Catechism, used by generations of American Catholics, asks it plainly in its sixth question: Why did God make you? The answer is the whole Catholic faith in seed form. God made you to know Him, to love Him and to serve Him in this life, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
Notice the order. Knowing comes first, because you cannot love someone you do not know. Loving comes next, because knowing God is not a school subject but a friendship. Serving grows out of love, the way a parent serves a child without counting the cost. And the goal is happiness: not a prize pasted on at the end, but the natural fruit of being united with the One who is goodness itself.
The Church teaches that God did not need to create anything. He is perfectly happy in Himself. He made us out of sheer generosity, so that we could share His own blessed life (CCC 1). That means your existence is not an accident, and you are not a burden to God. You are wanted.
This also explains something everyone feels: restlessness. Money, success, pleasure and even good relationships never quite fill us. The Church says the desire for God is written in the human heart, because we were made by God and for God, and only in God do we find the happiness we keep looking for (CCC 27). St Augustine put it in a line people have repeated for sixteen centuries: our heart is restless until it rests in God.
A fair objection: does this make God sound needy, as if He made us so He could be praised? No. Our praise adds nothing to God. It puts us in our true place, the way a plant that turns toward the sun is not doing the sun a favor. Worship is good for us because it is true.
Everything else in this course hangs on this first answer. Scripture, the Church, the sacraments and the commandments are not a list of hoops to jump through. They are the ways God helps us know Him, love Him, serve Him and reach the happiness we were made for (CCC 1721).
Key points
- God made you to know Him, love Him and serve Him, and to be happy with Him forever.
- God created out of generosity, not need, so your life is a gift and not an accident.
- The restlessness every person feels is a sign that we were made for God.
- Worship does not add to God; it puts us in our right place and makes us whole.
The Word of God
As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God.
Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man:
Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind.
Catechism paragraphs for this lesson
- CCC 1
- CCC 27-30
- CCC 356-358
- CCC 1721
CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.
From the tradition
Q. Why did God make you? A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.
Thou awakest us to delight in Thy praise; for Thou madest us for Thyself, and our heart is restless, until it repose in Thee.
Live it this week
Each morning this week, before you look at your phone, say this as a prayer: Lord, You made me to know You, love You and serve You. Help me do one of those today. At night, name one moment when you did.
Check yourself: three questions
1. According to the Baltimore Catechism, why did God make you?
- To know, love and serve Him, and be happy with Him forever
- To keep a set of rules so He would accept you
- Because He was lonely and needed company
- To build a better world through human effort alone
Show the answer
To know, love and serve Him, and be happy with Him forever. The lesson quotes Baltimore Q. 6: we are made to know, love and serve God and to be happy with Him forever.
2. Why did God create anything at all?
- He needed creatures to complete His happiness
- He was required to by a higher law
- Out of sheer generosity, to share His own life
- So that someone would praise Him and make Him greater
Show the answer
Out of sheer generosity, to share His own life. God is perfectly happy in Himself and created freely to share His blessed life with us (CCC 1).
3. What does the Church say our deep restlessness points to?
- A sign that we have not found the right career yet
- A sign that we were made by God and for God
- A purely chemical mood that has no meaning
- Proof that happiness is impossible in any form
Show the answer
A sign that we were made by God and for God. The desire for God is written in the human heart, so only God can fill it (CCC 27).
Words to know
- Catechism
- A summary of the faith, taught in an orderly way. The Baltimore Catechism (1885) and the Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992) are two famous ones.
- Beatitude
- The complete happiness of being united with God, which is the goal of every human life.
More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.
For catechists: a one hour class plan
Goal. The group should understand that God made each person out of love, to know Him, love Him and serve Him and to be happy with Him forever, and should leave knowing their own life is wanted.
Opener. Ask everyone to finish this sentence on a slip of paper or out loud: "I am happiest when..." Collect a few answers, then ask whether any of those things ever fully satisfied them for long. Let the honest answers set up the lesson.
Discussion questions
- Why do you think the old catechism puts knowing God before loving and serving Him? [A good answer: you cannot love someone you do not know; faith is a friendship before it is a duty. Watch for people hearing "serve" as earning God's love.]
- Where have you felt the restlessness the lesson describes, the sense that something is still missing? [Invite stories, not theory. Some may name addictions or losses; receive these gently and do not press for details.]
- Does it sound strange to you that God did not need to create us? Is that comforting or unsettling? [Point toward the lesson: God made us out of generosity, so we are gifts, not tools or burdens.]
- If worship adds nothing to God, why bother? [Use the plant and the sun image: worship puts us in our true place and is good for us because it is true.]
Activity. Give each person a sheet with three columns: Know, Love, Serve. In silence (5 minutes), each writes one small thing they could do this week under each heading, such as reading a Gospel chapter, a short prayer, or a hidden kindness. Then in pairs (7 minutes) share one column and promise to ask each other next week how it went.
Closing prayer. Lord God, You made each of us on purpose and out of love. Thank You for the gift of our lives. Help us to know You a little better this week, to love You more, and to serve You in the people around us. Quiet our restless hearts until they rest in You. Amen.
Timing. Opening prayer 5 min, opener 5 min, read the lesson together 15 min, discussion 20 min, activity 12 min, closing prayer 3 min.
Related lessons
- The Great Commandment and the Beatitudes (The Commandments)
- Why Does Every Person Matter? (Social Teaching)
Keep your place in the app
Start Here: The Catholic Faith in Twelve Lessons is free in the Saints Light app too, where you can mark each lesson done, take it as a guided class and keep notes.
Every course is open free for your first 14 days. After that, one payment of $14.99 unlocks every course. There is no subscription.