Salvation in the way God intends...

We comply with God's declared will whenever we accept what God shows us to be his plans -- when we believe what he teaches, trust in his promises, fear his threats, love his commands and counsels, and live by them... We must intend our own salvation in the way God intends it. God desires that we should be saved; we, too, need constantly to desire what God desires. God not only means us to be saved, but he actually gives us all we need to achieve salvation; so we are not to stop at merely desiring salvation, but go a step further and accept all the graces God has prepared for us, the graces he offers us. It is all very well to say, "I want to be saved." It is not much use merely saying, "I want to take the necessary steps." For that, we need to make the definite resolution to take and use the graces God holds out to us; our wills must be in tune with his. Since God wants us to be saved, we should want to be saved; we should also welcome the means to salvation that God intends for us to take.

St. Francis de Sales, from Finding God Wherever You Are.