Understanding Obedience

For many people, obeying God and the Bible is a life of being deprived of doing any “fun stuff.” They see God as a cosmic kill joy, withholding any pleasure out of life. They would have to adhere to rules and be self-disciplined. Obedience is at the core of spiritual growth. Obedience does not come naturally; in fact, obedience is anything but easy or simple. In the Bible, to obey means to hear and do. Hearing and doing are deeply interrelated: “It is the Lord your God you must follow and Him you must revere (worthy of great honor). Keep His commands and obey (hear) Him; serve Him and hold fast to Him” (Deut. 13:4). When we hear God as He is, rather than as we desire Him to be, we move toward consistent obedience. For us to grow spiritually, we must be God directed, not self-directed. The choice to follow God becomes a life style and your life’s direction. Obedience is to look outside of self for purpose, values, and decisions. We come to the place after the world has taken its toll on us, and we accept that our way does not work, and that God’s way is the best way to experience life. As we conduct life the way God would have us do it, life works better. Obedience is for our own good. We cannot live apart from God because He is the reason for living.

Obedience integrates all of life, encompasses all of us, both inside and out. Obedience has to do with submitting our bodies, soul (mind, will & emotions), and spirit to the leading of the Holy Spirit and Jesus as Lord. Obedience has to do with learning about your character weaknesses and dealing with them. God asks for no less than total commitment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment” (Mark 22:37-38). There is nothing more important and nothing more demanding. It requires our total being which then saves our lives. “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it” (Mark 8:35).

Obedience operates through the process of confession and repentance and keeps us on the growth path. For example, most people who avoid deep connections with others have trust issues. They may want to connect but have fears of being hurt or controlled. They want to play it safe but then they become lonely. This conflict disrupts our relationships at work, marriage and friendships. As we enter into the growth process with safe people, we become aware of these two conflicted areas of the heart. Here is where the two types of obedience help us heal and grow: We can begin to commit to the external behavior of staying in contact with people like a church small group. This external commitment keeps us from isolating ourselves and avoiding the loneliness. At the same time, we obey internally by confessing the fears of closeness and the desire to be distant (see James 5:16). As we do this in the safe place of trustworthy friends, we receive their support and encouragement to help integrate the two conflicted areas. We repent by turning from our old ways and begin learning new skills and abilities like boundaries so we set limits on others so we won’t be controlled. We learn to be vulnerable and yet free in our relationships. This is why people pursuing spiritual growth often feel as if they have “come alive” when they see that God speaks to their emotional, personal, and relational lives as well as their spiritual lives. This external and internal nature of obedience helps us to grow up. It helps us to integrate different parts of our character that conflict with one another.