What\u2019s the Deal with obedience? What is it exactly? Why do I need it? What should I do about it? Oh! I\u2019m so glad you asked – because I have the answer! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obedience is proof of your relationship with God! <\/strong>Obedience is the practical application of love for and trust in God. Obedience proves the relationship<\/strong>. Somewhere on the web (I forget where) stated it like this: <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obedience is the practical acceptance of the authority and will of God. It includes both submitting to Him and then expressing that submission in actions, words and thoughts. To be obedient is to be in agreement with God. To be in agreement with God is to be in a position of power in Christ. To be disobedient is to yield to self-will instead of surrendering to God and desiring His will in all things.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n With that being said, let\u2019s look at why it\u2019s important and what you should do about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obedience is important so we don\u2019t fool ourselves and so we steer clear of idols.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Obedience is important because without it, we\u2019re in disagreement with God, and often fool ourselves if we think we\u2019re not idolizing ourselves. Let me explain: <\/p>\n\n\n\n That definition above of disobedience is an important one to take note of because I would even say that yielding to self will is a form of idolatry – idolizing self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So let\u2019s talk about this obedience thing – It\u2019s such an annoying term and concept. We love hearing about freedom in Christ but ignore the fact that we\u2019re set free from sin to OBEY and become slaves to Christ. It\u2019s the whole point of our freedom! <\/p>\n\n\n\n But no matter what you\u2019re a slave to, obedience and disobedience are always of free will – we have free will to act either way – and we act one way or the other often depending on what WE think is best. We tend to trust ourselves more than we trust God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Biblical examples include Adam and Eve. They were just certain they knew what the fruit really did despite God\u2019s warning. There\u2019s also Lot\u2019s wife. Even though the angel of the Lord warned her and Lot to flee and \u201cnot look back\u201d, she was like \u201cyo I do what I want\u201d Salty little thing isn\u2019t she? (Ha – see what I did there?). Then, there\u2019s Jonah who was told to preach to the Ninevites that they might turn from evil, but Jonah was of the firm believe they don\u2019t deserve to be saved and went on a cruise. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Proverbs 16:25 is clear that there\u2019s a way that seems right to man (Adam, Eve, Lot\u2019s wife, Jonah) but in the end it leads to death. Let me be quite clear that if you don\u2019t obey, it displays a lack of trust in God your father – and if you don\u2019t trust Him, do you even really know Him like you think you do or like you claim you do ? I know that sounds harsh but a quote I read when I was young that has stuck by me is by Martha Tennison, a speaker and author, and it says \u201cif you can\u2019t trust God, it may be because you don\u2019t know Him\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because In each of these stories, the disobeyers lacked faith and trust in God<\/strong>. Instead of trusting God to know what was best for them and submitting to His will, these people acted impulsively out of fear, anger, or greed. – all reactions that lead to self idolizing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n So, what should I do?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, thanks for asking. I gotchu. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal your disobedience to you. Then, repent and purpose to obey. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I love the response of King David when he was caught by God through Nathan after his sin concerning Bathsheba and her hubby. Psalm 51 (in part): <\/p>\n\n\n\n Have mercy on me, O God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n according to your unfailing love;<\/p>\n\n\n\n according to your great compassion<\/p>\n\n\n\n blot out my transgressions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 2 <\/sup>Wash away all my iniquity<\/p>\n\n\n\n and cleanse me from my sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 3 <\/sup>For I know my transgressions,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and my sin is always before me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 4 <\/sup>Against you, you only, have I sinned<\/p>\n\n\n\n and done what is evil in your sight;<\/p>\n\n\n\n so you are right in your verdict<\/p>\n\n\n\n and justified when you judge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 5 9 10 <\/sup>Create in me a pure heart, O God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n and renew a steadfast spirit within me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 11 <\/sup>Do not cast me from your presence<\/p>\n\n\n\n or take your Holy Spirit from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 12 <\/sup>Restore to me the joy of your salvation<\/p>\n\n\n\n and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Acknowledge in humility what you\u2019ve done and how you\u2019ve thought you knew better. Then, repent as David did and purpose to obey to the point that you become a man after God\u2019s own heart. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Obedience proves relationship. Obedience would prove you\u2019re one after God\u2019s own heart. Obedience puts you in an attitude of agreement with God so that you\u2019re positioned to harness the power of Christ – What a great place to be!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What\u2019s the Deal with obedience? What is it exactly? Why do I need it? What should I do about it? Oh! I\u2019m so glad you asked – because I have the answer! Obedience is proof of your relationship with God! Obedience is the practical application of love for and trust in God. Obedience proves the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-373","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christian-living"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pac8FG-61","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=373"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":374,"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373\/revisions\/374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/asmymindunwinds.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}