Obedience (Bible Tag 24)

obedience obey

Our love for Christ will be demonstrated by obeying Him and carrying out His will for our lives (John 15:10). This obedience is motivated by neither a desire for reward nor a fear of punishment. It is simply a love response to everything our Lord has done for us and what He means in our daily lives.

Jesus depended on his Father in total obedience. He modeled here on Earth and continues to live in Heaven: compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, forgiveness, and peace. Jesus’ concern was that people obey God, even if their families considered them crazy. This carried over into his own family life. He was willing to sacrifice those relationships for the sake of doing the Father’s will.

At times, radical love and devotion result in estrangement from his family. Jesus said his followers must be willing to make this sacrifice (Matt 10:37–38).

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving. Colossians 2:7

The Greatest Command

Jesus' greatest command is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Loving Him with all our hearts results from allowing the Holy Spirit to fill our spirits. The result of this process is pure and holy love. To love Him with all our souls is to place our will, personality, and emotions before His lordship and submit to His control. The result is that we begin to embody Christ's character in our daily lives. Anger, cynicism, and pride are replaced with a proper focus on and adoration of God's perfection and glory. Only by realigning our minds with the absolute truth revealed in God's Word can we love God with our minds. Meditation on God's revealed character in Scripture refreshes our minds.

Biblical knowledge must always accompany a loving relationship with Christ because knowledge can easily lead to false spiritual pride. Many must be reminded of what we already know and put that knowledge into loving action. Our love for God is not complete until we learn to share it with others.