EmmDev 2022-07-06 [Spiritual Growth] Obedience #2

Obedience #2

If you love me you will obey what I command. And I will ask the Father and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever - the Spirit of truth. (John14:15)

We obey for two reasons: Fear or Love. Fear is never a good motivator. It promotes double standards in the sense that we will "misbehave" when the "boss" isn't looking. Love on the other hand brings us to the point where we are consistent and constant in our obedience because supervision is not necessary.

Jesus asks us to love Him so much that we want to obey Him. We need to learn to be obedient in the little and the big things shows our love toward Him. When we choose to disobey on issues that we know He is talking to us about, we are showing a tragic disregard for His great love for us and a terrible underestimation of the sacrifice He made for us. It shows that we do not really take Him seriously.

The other aspect of obedience is that it is part of being filled with the Spirit. You will remember that we said that being filled with the Spirit is to be controlled by the Spirit. When we obey God we are showing a willingness to be led and guided by the Spirit. The Holy Spirit is not a "body snatcher" - He does not make us do anything against our will. He wants us to relinquish and yield control to Him. Obedience is the way in which we do this.

There is an upward spiral here: The more we obey, the more the Holy Spirit can work in us, and then we are given the strength and the courage to obey even more, and the more we obey, the more the Holy Spirit can work in us, ....

That's an upward spiral I need in my life!!!

---