Ever wonder how to be obedient to God and why even bother?
Obedience is such a tough reality, isn’t it? After all, who really wants to “obey” when it goes against their own desires, comfort, or convenience? I know I don’t. In fact, I was pondering this entire concept today and couldn’t stop thinking about how to be obedient to God….all the time.
At the heart of most every person of faith (i.e. Christian), they want to be obedient to the Lord and live a life pleasing to Christ, right? But, it’s sooooo hard, isn’t it?
I think I know one of the reasons it is hard for me personally. I’m going to share. Tell me what you think in the comments. Can you relate?
Stoooopid Free Will and Obeying God
You see, we were created to be “free agents” and that’s cool. It means we are not “held hostage by the Faith.
No, we’re not living breathing robots forced to love and obey God.
At the same time, it means we are actually free to wander and stray away from Him from time to time.
Aye, there is the rub.
Our autonomy (or freedom) gets us into a world of trouble.
Note: I don’t believe we can stray from His love. But, we can stray from His purpose for our lives.
Anyway, because we are free, we can choose to obey God or to do our own thing.
Doing your own thing may look a million different ways.
It could be sleeping through your prayer time.
It could be telling “off” that person who jumps in your face.
It could be as simple as harboring bad thoughts about another person.
It could be holding on to something (or someone) the Holy Spirit leads you to release.
Yeah, freedom is a blessing, but it is also a powerful force to manage.
Plus, you are so selfish.
If you saw my recent Facebook post, you read how I was dealing with the concept of selfishness and how it was showing up in my day. Click on it below.
I talked about how rushing and hastening can manifest as selfishness because it says to the other person “you don’t matter” or “your agenda is not as important as mine”.
Like when the lane ends during a construction stretch of highway and someone darts in front of me just before it ends. I’m like “Really?”
Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.
Disobedience is a selfish manifestation. It puts you ahead of God in your priority list..
When I don’t submit to God, I’m saying His ways (or statutes) are not as important as mine. Yep.
My disobedience says to God what I want to do, be or experience trumps whatever He tells me to do.
Rebellion is also like me declaring I’m the “god” in the scenario and my will is king. It’s saying what I want is more important than Him. Sometimes I’m deciding my fear (of doing what He says) is more important than Him. Wild, huh?
Anyway, be careful of a lifestyle of disobedience to God. It never works out well. It ends with disappointment, failure, and, yes, punishment. Trust me; I know all too well.
Yeah, keep His statutes fresh in your mind.
Read His Word.
Listen to sermons, read books to sear the Lord’s expectations into your brain and your heart.
In the end, it’s all about Him and His ways are the most important thing.
Do you agree?
Do you think disobedience is about selfishness or self-focus?
Learn the secrets of living in God’s favor and pleasure.
Ever notice most people don’t discuss or teach about obedience? They discuss things like prosperity, but not much buzz about being obedient to God on the daily.
That’s why you need this Christian women’s workshop!
This is an interactive online session exploring the dynamics of living a lifestyle of obedience to God.
By understanding the benefits, barriers, and expectations of obedience, we equip ourselves to enjoy the victory of serving Jesus Christ all while avoiding the pitfalls of disobedience.
Sign up to learn how to make walking in Godly obedience more than an “incident”, but a lifestyle.
This ONLINE session is for women only and costs $15.00 to attend.
After registering you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the training. You’ll also have access to a private Facebook group discussing the content.
A Past Session on how to be obedient to God
Just to give you a “taste” of my training style, check out this past online workshop! Yep, the complete session.
The online Christian workshop in November 2019 will be completely different from this one. I guarantee it will bless you just the same…if not more!
How do you be obedient to God?
The first step to being obedient to God is to realize He comes first and nothing else really matters.
When you are really mature spiritually, you don’t consider anything more important than pleasing the Lord.
Your friend’s opinions do not matter.
Your own personal “wants” fall low on the priority list.
Fear is something you manage instead of esteem when you are obedient to God.
Here is how I am obedient to God (or at least how I try to be):
- I remind myself He is God and I am but dust.
Realistically, I don’t matter when it comes to doing what He tells me to do. If he tells me to apologize to someone, I try to do it. If He tells me to give more money in offering; I do it. Am I perfect? Heck, no! But, this is my thought process and my endeavor. I am nothing and nobody in comparison to Him. He matters most.
“… for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.” Psalm 103:14
- Tell someone else you are being obedient to God.
Accountability is a beautiful thing. When you share what God has told you with someone you trust, you create a level of accountability for yourself. Be sure to give them permission to inquire how your obedience is going from time to time. - Just DO IT!
Plain and simple. Whatever God tells you to do, determine to do it and jump in headfirst. Obedience will be hard. Obeying may be scary. It may even seem impossible to obey what He’s telling you to do, but do it anyway or as Joyce Meyer says “do it afraid.” - Barriers and Solutions
Brainstorm the why behind your disobedience. Are you falling into sex before marriage because you allow your boyfriend over late at night? If so, how can you avoid that situation in the future? Are you not paying tithes because you can’t get yourself to write that check? Maybe PayPal can automatically deduct it from your account? I don’t know. What I do know is you should find solutions to any barriers that continually trip you up.
“Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You.” Psalm 56:3
Women’s devotional online:
Still, pondering how to be obedient to God?
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