When Your Obedience to God Drifts into Duty

I recently had the opportunity to attend our Church's annual women's retreat. This was my third consecutive year attending the event, and each and every year I have left immeasurably blessed by the faithful biblical instruction and wisdom I receive. 

As I conversed with other ladies who had attended various breakout sessions on various topics, one thing was evident: the Spirit of God was at work in the hearts of each and every lady in the most specific, personalized, and tangible ways--including my own. However, it was during a rather unexpected point of the women's retreat when the Spirit brought some specific truths into my mind which ministered to me in a living and active way. 

On the second day of the retreat, I pulled into the parking lot and was about to step out of my car when one of my favorite songs started to play. You know when a song is just too good to resist listening to again--no matter how many times you've heard it before? For me, this was one of those songs. As the piano intro commenced, and as the first stanza rang out through the speakers, the words of this familiar tune fell upon my ears with new and deeper purpose:

More love to thee, O, Christ, 

More love to thee.

Hear now the prayer I make

on bended knee.

This is my earnest plea-- 

More love, O, Christ, to thee.

More love to thee. 

More love to thee.

To understand how the Spirit worked through these lyrics to remind me anew of God's truth, I must first confess the typical day-to-day condition of my heart as a wife, a mother and a homemaker.

Some days, I willingly set my mind above and embrace my various roles with enthusiasm. But other days, I feel as though I am running on fumes of sinfulness alone. I become lazy about my routine, embittered by my housework, angry with my children/husband, and selfish with my time. Over and over again, I am confronted with the choice of obedience or disobedience. And although I know I should obey the Lord in these instances, I often fail to remember why.   

As I listened to this song, the Spirit reminded me of why I ought to make it my aim to obey God in everything I do. Simply stated--my obedience to God is the avenue through which I can express my love for God.  

For so long, this critical motivating factor has been absent from my obedience. I might obey because I don't want to come off as hypocritical to my children, or so I can boast about it through some online platform later. I might obey because I know it will put an end to a feud I'm having with my husband, or so I can avoid feeling the guilt of failure. There always seems to be an agenda behind my obedience. However, I hardly find myself obeying Jesus as a conscious act of love for Him.

But a genuine, indebted, and joyful love for Jesus should be what's driving everything I do--especially my obedience.

Jesus himself said, "If you love me, you will keep my commandments" (John 14:15). He makes it clear that our motivation to obey Him hinges upon our love for Him.

So then, love is the very heartbeat of our obedience to God. Every circumstance in which we choose to obey Him--both in thought and deed--we are essentially saying, "I love you, Lord. And because I love you I want to do what you say is the right thing to do in this moment." It matters that our obedience is compelled by our love for Christ, because, as Christians, our greatest priority in this life is to love God--with all of our heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:36-38).

"More love to Thee, O, Christ. More love to Thee." There ought to be no greater agenda than to love Him more.

May the people of Christ make this their earnest plea. May our love for Christ be the underlying motivation for our obedience. When we're tempted to blow up at our children, may our love for Jesus compel us to be gracious and kind. When we're tempted to indulge in secret sins, may our love for Jesus stop us dead in our tracks. When we're tempted to grumble about our circumstances, may our love for Him cause us to instead give thanks. May we learn to obey Him less out of a sense of pretense, duty, convenience, guilt, or pride and more out of love.

Furthermore, as we seek to restore our sense of love for Him, it will do our hearts good to remember how He has first loved us (1 John 4:19). He loved us by willingly leaving His position in Heaven to become a servant for us (Philippians 2:6-7). He loved us by taking on flesh and blood and making himself like us (Hebrews 2:14). He loved us by subjecting Himself to every possible temptation that ensnared us (Hebrews 4:15). He loved us by walking in perfect obedience  to God and crediting His sinless, righteous life to us (2 Corinthians 5:21). He loved us by hanging guiltless on a cross for us (1 Peter 2:22-24).  He loved us by tasting death for us (Hebrews 2:9). He loved us by absorbing God's wrath and punishment for us (Isaiah 53:5). He loved us by defeating death, being raised from the dead, and making eternal life possible for us (Acts 2:24). As we continually think upon His stunning love for us, our love for Him will, in response, yield authentic, God-pleasing obedience.

So, fellow believer, join me in nurturing your affections for Christ by meditating regularly upon who He is and what He has done for you. Incline your heart to love Him more and more each day--in such a way that obedience becomes the natural byproduct.

As His redeemed and adopted children, He longs for and takes pleasure in our sincere, loving obedience. As 1 Corinthians 13 makes clear, we gain nothing if there is no love behind our doing. So, at the risk of obeying the God of all creation in vain, let us obey Him in love.