Have you ever heard someone say (or said this yourself), “I don’t feel like it. I just want to do what I want to do.” Or “I just can’t do it. It is too hard.” These are statements often given in avoidance of God’s instruction. Somehow, we make ourselves believe that we have the right to choose our own way over God’s clearly stated commands. The list to which we apply these words is endless: our diet, our church attendance, our recreation, our Bible study, our prayer time, our Bible memory, our words of slander, and even our addictive habits.
So, what is the answer to our struggling obedience? What ought to serve as our motivation for choosing to obey God?
LOVING – John 15:10
Psalm 107. Look at this Psalm. The children of Israel would sin and rebel, God would chasten them, the Israelites would repent and return to the Lord their God and then this verse is recorded:
“Oh, that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”
After time passed, the Israelites would do much the same in ways of rebellion…and God would chasten again…and the Israelites would repent…and then this verse comes again…
“Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”
In the great goodness of God, we see His wonderful love! The truth is God loves you and me with a perfect love. You can’t get Him to love you anymore than He does right now! (Jer. 31:3; Rom. 5:8)
When any one of us buys a used car, we take a bit of a gamble. We don’t know what to expect. A week, a few months, or even a year down the road that car may fall apart. The Lord took no chances with you and me! At the time He declared His love for us, He knew everything there was to know about you and me – and then He chose us, bought us, and made us His own! If that doesn’t quiet our heart, we don’t really understand God’s love for us!
The truth is that it is we who can’t stand ourselves because of our own sin and guilt before God, but we try to say it is God who doesn’t love us. The remedy is simple – repent! When we repent and turn to Him the result will be abiding in Christ in a position of humility.
I walk into my home, and I think – I don’t deserve this wonderful wife of mine. I walk into this church, and I think – I don’t deserve to be the Pastor of this wonderful church. And God reminds me – you’re right, you don’t…but you aren’t here because you are good…you are here because I am good!
We will abide in Christ as we obey Him…and we will obey the Lord as we get a hold of His love for us! Paul had a comprehension of the love of God as he told the Corinth church (II Cor. 5:14) that it was the love of God that constrained him. Paul prayed that the people of Ephesus (Eph. 3:13-21—esp. v. 19) would know the love of God. This is not a natural love – it is supernatural. Such a supernatural love is only understood through the Spirit of God (Gal. 5:22-23).
So, the root is – we need to seek and know the love of God for each of us…and that will draw us to respond in love for Him.
“If we love God most, we will love others best.”
– Jon Bloom, staff writer for Desiring God online.
4 Truths to Better Understand Loving God:
1. Matt. 22:37-39. DIRECTIVES.
The greatest command is to love God. The second greatest command is to love one another. If we pursue obeying the first command, the second will follow. However, if we do not obey the first command, we will struggle massively with our love for others.
So, our interpersonal relationships are deeply dependent on our love for God. Why is that? Because true love only comes from the One who is love (I Jn. 4:8). We will only pour out of our lives what we have allowed to be poured in our lives (by God, or by someone/something else). This helps us find the real cause of our relational conflicts. The root cause for struggling with others can be traced back to our love relationship with Jesus. Pursuing purposeful obedience in loving God with everything I have and everything I am is more than what “spiritual people do.” It is essential.
2. II Tim. 3:2; Eph. 2:3. DISEASE.
It is when we love ourselves more than God that our love becomes misled, falsified, and sickly. This is a pathway that allows love to evolve into whatever seems right in our own eyes. This is idolatry. There is more evil in embracing such thinking than we want to believe. In fact, when we are in that position, we cannot see the problem because our love is diseased and leading us astray. We must guard against giving our love to another more than we have given to God.
3. Eph. 2:4. DISTINCTION.
Our love was greatly diseased when Jesus found us. Yet, in that depraved condition, Ephesians 2:4 says it wonderfully, “But God, who is rich in mercy!” John 3:16 reminds us of how God almighty stepped into the horror of our sin to pay the judgment we deserve for how we broke the law. He also acted on every human being’s behalf. He did not die just for the murderer, or the adulterer, or the abuser. Why? Because there are none without sin (Eccl. 7:20; Rm. 3:10, 23) and we are all deserving of judgment (Rom. 6:23). You and I must make this personal to impact our motivation for obeying God. Jesus paid it all … even for me! Jesus had to die for me. Remember what that means (Is. 53:3-7). Without His shed blood to provide atonement for MY sin, I would be destined for eternal judgment in hell with no hope.
4. I Jn. 4:20. DISCLOSING.
Here is the jarring, uncomfortable, and undeniable truth:
Our love for God is revealed in our love for others.
James 2:18 tells us our faith is revealed by our works. Rom. 2:4 tells us it is God’s kindness that opens our eyes to our need for repentance. One of the best evaluations we could do today is to ask the Lord to help us see how we treat others, especially how we treat those in the church – because this reveals our love for God.
Our love for God directly impacts our obedience to God. Struggling with your obedience? What is your relationship with God like?
The secret to living is bearing fruit…
The secret to bearing fruit is abiding in Christ…
The secret to abiding in Christ is obeying Christ…
The secret to obeying Christ is loving Christ…
The human brain is an amazing thing. There are literally different pathways that work through our brain to help us remember various things on any given day at any given moment. For example, we will read some material and can recall that material for a short time. However, when we go to take a test on this same material a couple days later, we often fail to remember all the material that we once read. This is why we study for tests. We rehearse and memorize and constantly review specific material so that our brain will create new pathways to remember what we have learned. This is like taking the same path through a field or forest repeatedly. Eventually, a new pathway is formed because of mere repetition. So, in essence, effective studying will help take temporary brain pathways and make them more permanent.1
When we effectively study Scripture, we are creating more permanent brain pathways to think biblically. That purposeful thinking affects our relationship with God and our relationship with God affects our obedience to God.
Deepen your love relationship with Jesus, the Savior of your soul! It will change everything in relationship with Jesus and others.