If we love Him, we obey Him.

In my opinion, this is the hardest teaching that Jesus ever gave. Lately, this instruction on obedience has been coming up a lot, and challenging me to my core.

“Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.'” (John 14:23-24)

Truth be told, I get mildly frustrated when I read these words. Obviously, I’m not frustrated at Jesus. I get frustrated with myself that I am not loving Jesus the way I should.

He can’t get any more clear than “anyone who loves me will obey my teaching” or “anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.” And yet, each and every day I make straightforward choices to disobey Him.

The choice to disobey.

Perhaps you’re immediate thought is, “Don’t be so hard on yourself; everyone struggles!” Which is true, but I’m not really talking about struggling. I’m talking about when we are faced with a choice and we choose poorly. The temptation hits, and we fail.

For me, giving into temptation is often matched with an excuse. In reality, there’s a battle of Spirit and flesh that is waging, and I am giving into my flesh. I am leaning into an excuse instead of leaning into Jesus.

There are a variety of situations that can bring me us to moments of serious temptation; stress, heartache, fatigue, and loneliness. Nevertheless, we can’t use them as excuses to choose sin. If we do, we’re making a straightforward choice against Christ’s teaching.

The choice of shame and regret.

Once we give into that temptation, shame and regret always follow. We come to our senses, and feel terrible that we have chosen pleasure or behavioural desire instead of loving Jesus through our obedience, as He instructed.

Maybe you’re experiencing shame and regret right now.

Remember there’s always grace. Through the recognition of our disobedience and prayer, forgiveness and restoration comes quickly. If it didn’t Christ’s sacrifice on the cross would have been meaningless.

If needed, choose to practice some spiritual disciplines as part of your restoration; Scripture reading, fasting, journaling, etc. For me, the pratice of writing a blog post, unpacking a piece of Scripture or spiritual thoughts can renew my mind.

The choice of restoration.

The amazing component of our disobedience and restoration, is that it moves us forward in our walk with Christ. Although it might not feel it at the time, we’re slightly stronger than the day before. We have endured another temptation and faith challenge to strengthen us.

Today, I’m sure obeying Christ will be at the forefront of your mind after reading this post. This is a great thing! Sometimes, we’re compelled to be honest about where we are in life, and share it with others. I have shared; maybe you will share with someone else? We press on together!

Join the Conversation, Leave Your Thoughts

• How is youre relationship with Jesus going?
• How are you struggling? Which area of sin trips you up the most?
• How are you doing at obeying Jesus’ teaching?