“But if anyone obeys his word, God’s love is truly made complete in him.1 John 2:5 NIV
“He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”
“He who does not love me will not obey my teaching.”
John 14:24a NIV
Do you ever wonder why obeying God is so difficult? I have come to realize that it is because I do not love God enough to obey him. I confess, as a Christian, that thought makes me very uncomfortable. Yet still I choose to disobey.
I feel that on the “big stuff” like murder, stealing, adultery I do a pretty good job of obeying God. Yet I must ask myself if I live like that because I love God or because I have good morals? I must admit that it is the “little stuff” that bothers me. Things like always speaking kind words, judging others, being negative, responding to God in fear, gossiping, not giving all that I could, and not spending more time in the Word and in prayer. I know that God wants me to obey him regarding all those things and I’m sure many other things that I haven’t mentioned. Then why don’t I simply obey? Again, I think it is because I do not love God enough.
As a child I obeyed my parents to avoid getting into big trouble. Later I obeyed them in order to find favor with them. Their favor would prove to be beneficial to me in getting what I wanted. Finally, as I grew older I began to obey my parents simply because I loved them and didn’t want to disappoint them or dishonor them in any way. My love for my parents grew so strong that I just naturally wanted to please them. My acts of loving obedience told them in unspoken words how very much I loved them. It seemed like the formula was Love = Obeying = Love. The more I loved my parents, the easier it became to obey.
I would like to suggest that perhaps the solution for my lack of obedience to God is simple. I must fall deeper in love with Jesus! ! I must spend time with him. I must learn as much as I possibly can about how Jesus thinks, what he does, who he is, what he stands for, and who he loves. Just like in any relationship, when I discover more about the object of my affection, I fall head over heals in love with that person. Their character, their qualities, their abilities, and their love for me all contribute to my desire to love, obey, and serve them in return.
I wonder what a day of completely and perfectly loving Jesus would look like. For sure it would be a day void of selfish desires and ambitions. My day might start out by me saying, “Good morning God, here I am bright eyed, able and willing. What can I do for you this morning?” “Ask what you will God, I’m your gal!”
Instead, the scenario is more likely to be, “Thanks God for a good night of rest. Now here is a list of what I need today, what I need for my family, and what I need for my friends. God, I’d really like to spend some time with you this morning but unfortunately I have a very busy day. Please know God I wish I could, but I can’t! Oh well, not to worry, God, I know you will be pretty busy today because I, for one, have left you with a very long “to do” list.”
You see, on occasion I have been guilty of believing a very big lie of Satan that says to me, “God does not need you.” After all, if he is an “all knowing,” “all powerful,” and “all present” God, why on earth would he need you? I perceive this lie as making perfect sense because down deep inside, I really don’t think I have much to offer.
Au contraire, my friend. God does need us! However, God does not need our knowledge, our power, or for us to fill in for him in case he can’t be somewhere that he needs to be. No, God has all of that covered. But God created each of us because he needs our fellowship and our love. When we, as believers, experience a personal relationship with God he allows us to ask him for what we need, and then he tells us what he needs. It may be go, stay, wait, serve, encourage, give, or a myriad of other opportunities. We show God our love by obeying his commands and doing whatever it is that he asks of us.
Only selfish, ungrateful children would expect the relationship to be one sided. Remember we should love God not because we fear him, or need to, or want to be found in his good favor so we can receive gifts from his hand. No! We obey him because we love him.
I don’t think I ever really understood the sacrifice that my parents made for me. I doubt that my children see the sacrifices that my husband and I made for them. I also doubt that my grandchildren are conscious of the sacrifice their parents are making for them. So I imagine that I, a child of sin, do not really understand the sacrifice that God ordained for me even before I was born. God gave his one and only son to die as a sacrifice for my sin. Jesus took my place. Without Jesus’ sacrifice and his shed blood being applied to my heart I would be hopelessly separated from God for all eternity. If I was destined to remain separated from God because of my sin, I would die at the end of this life and never again receive his love, his gifts, or his provision. His protection would disappear from my life. I am reminded that God chooses to bless both believers and non believers. But some day his generosity will end for those who do not love him.
I know that I really do need to try to understand all that God has done for me so that I can love him more completely. I want my love to be pure. From time to time the test will come and Jesus will simply ask me as he did Peter, “Do you love me?” and then he will ask for my obedience as proof. Feed my sheep, give of your time and resources, take better care of yourself, and last but never least, spend more time alone with me.
I am convinced that my love fosters obedience, and obedience speaks a message of love to my Father in Heaven. Love = Obedience = Love! God knows that I am dust. I know that God does not require my perfection but he looks at my heart and he knows full well the depth of my love and that my desire is to love him. I want to love God more today than yesterday. I want to love him tomorrow more than today! I want to fall deeply in love with my Jesus! Less of me and more of Him!
Questions:
Do you have trouble obeying God?
I feel that on the “big stuff” like murder, stealing, adultery I do a pretty good job of obeying God. Yet I must ask myself if I live like that because I love God or because I have good morals? I must admit that it is the “little stuff” that bothers me. Things like always speaking kind words, judging others, being negative, responding to God in fear, gossiping, not giving all that I could, and not spending more time in the Word and in prayer. I know that God wants me to obey him regarding all those things and I’m sure many other things that I haven’t mentioned. Then why don’t I simply obey? Again, I think it is because I do not love God enough.
As a child I obeyed my parents to avoid getting into big trouble. Later I obeyed them in order to find favor with them. Their favor would prove to be beneficial to me in getting what I wanted. Finally, as I grew older I began to obey my parents simply because I loved them and didn’t want to disappoint them or dishonor them in any way. My love for my parents grew so strong that I just naturally wanted to please them. My acts of loving obedience told them in unspoken words how very much I loved them. It seemed like the formula was Love = Obeying = Love. The more I loved my parents, the easier it became to obey.
I would like to suggest that perhaps the solution for my lack of obedience to God is simple. I must fall deeper in love with Jesus! ! I must spend time with him. I must learn as much as I possibly can about how Jesus thinks, what he does, who he is, what he stands for, and who he loves. Just like in any relationship, when I discover more about the object of my affection, I fall head over heals in love with that person. Their character, their qualities, their abilities, and their love for me all contribute to my desire to love, obey, and serve them in return.
I wonder what a day of completely and perfectly loving Jesus would look like. For sure it would be a day void of selfish desires and ambitions. My day might start out by me saying, “Good morning God, here I am bright eyed, able and willing. What can I do for you this morning?” “Ask what you will God, I’m your gal!”
Instead, the scenario is more likely to be, “Thanks God for a good night of rest. Now here is a list of what I need today, what I need for my family, and what I need for my friends. God, I’d really like to spend some time with you this morning but unfortunately I have a very busy day. Please know God I wish I could, but I can’t! Oh well, not to worry, God, I know you will be pretty busy today because I, for one, have left you with a very long “to do” list.”
You see, on occasion I have been guilty of believing a very big lie of Satan that says to me, “God does not need you.” After all, if he is an “all knowing,” “all powerful,” and “all present” God, why on earth would he need you? I perceive this lie as making perfect sense because down deep inside, I really don’t think I have much to offer.
Au contraire, my friend. God does need us! However, God does not need our knowledge, our power, or for us to fill in for him in case he can’t be somewhere that he needs to be. No, God has all of that covered. But God created each of us because he needs our fellowship and our love. When we, as believers, experience a personal relationship with God he allows us to ask him for what we need, and then he tells us what he needs. It may be go, stay, wait, serve, encourage, give, or a myriad of other opportunities. We show God our love by obeying his commands and doing whatever it is that he asks of us.
Only selfish, ungrateful children would expect the relationship to be one sided. Remember we should love God not because we fear him, or need to, or want to be found in his good favor so we can receive gifts from his hand. No! We obey him because we love him.
I don’t think I ever really understood the sacrifice that my parents made for me. I doubt that my children see the sacrifices that my husband and I made for them. I also doubt that my grandchildren are conscious of the sacrifice their parents are making for them. So I imagine that I, a child of sin, do not really understand the sacrifice that God ordained for me even before I was born. God gave his one and only son to die as a sacrifice for my sin. Jesus took my place. Without Jesus’ sacrifice and his shed blood being applied to my heart I would be hopelessly separated from God for all eternity. If I was destined to remain separated from God because of my sin, I would die at the end of this life and never again receive his love, his gifts, or his provision. His protection would disappear from my life. I am reminded that God chooses to bless both believers and non believers. But some day his generosity will end for those who do not love him.
I know that I really do need to try to understand all that God has done for me so that I can love him more completely. I want my love to be pure. From time to time the test will come and Jesus will simply ask me as he did Peter, “Do you love me?” and then he will ask for my obedience as proof. Feed my sheep, give of your time and resources, take better care of yourself, and last but never least, spend more time alone with me.
I am convinced that my love fosters obedience, and obedience speaks a message of love to my Father in Heaven. Love = Obedience = Love! God knows that I am dust. I know that God does not require my perfection but he looks at my heart and he knows full well the depth of my love and that my desire is to love him. I want to love God more today than yesterday. I want to love him tomorrow more than today! I want to fall deeply in love with my Jesus! Less of me and more of Him!
Questions:
Do you have trouble obeying God?
When you obey, why do you obey?
What do you think you can do to fall deeper in love with Jesus?
Do you agree that the more you love God the more you will obey him?
Prayer:
Dear God,
I am finding that I cannot be consistently obedient to you without consistently loving you. It must be the desire of my heart to obey you simply because I don’t want to disappoint you. I want to obey you because that is what husbands and wives, children and parents, and good friends do for one another. They help each other because they love each other. You are my Father and my friend. I confess, many times I have tried to obey you apart from loving you. It simply doesn’t work. God, I thank you that you first loved me. Amazingly, you loved me enough to send your Son to the cross to die for me even before I loved you. How gracious is your love for me! God, I need to spend more and more time with you so I can fall madly in love with you. After all, that is what people who love each other do. God I don’t want to just take from your hand. I desire to give back to you in obedience because I love you. Father, you lavish your love on me. Oh, that I might love you lavishly in return.
In Your Son’s name I pray. Amen.
Dear God,
I am finding that I cannot be consistently obedient to you without consistently loving you. It must be the desire of my heart to obey you simply because I don’t want to disappoint you. I want to obey you because that is what husbands and wives, children and parents, and good friends do for one another. They help each other because they love each other. You are my Father and my friend. I confess, many times I have tried to obey you apart from loving you. It simply doesn’t work. God, I thank you that you first loved me. Amazingly, you loved me enough to send your Son to the cross to die for me even before I loved you. How gracious is your love for me! God, I need to spend more and more time with you so I can fall madly in love with you. After all, that is what people who love each other do. God I don’t want to just take from your hand. I desire to give back to you in obedience because I love you. Father, you lavish your love on me. Oh, that I might love you lavishly in return.
In Your Son’s name I pray. Amen.
1 comment:
Great message, Paula!
That is the prayer of my heart...I just recently wrote in my journal as I begin a new Bible Study-to fall in love with Jesus, my One and Only.
Thank you,
Christine
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