Learning Obedience

Learning Obedience
By Dr. Charles Stanley

The life of obedience is a life of following Christ. If we commit ourselves to obeying God, He will train us until obedience becomes a way of life.

I. Obedience involves commitment. We can identify people who are committed to obeying God by two traits:
The truly committed are primarily concerned about grieving the heart of a loving God when they sin.
The truly committed are concerned with how the consequences of their sin will affect them and others.
II. Obedience always brings blessings, while disobedience always brings pain.

The curse of God is a declaration of His intended judgement on unbelievers.
Believers will face only God's loving chastisement, which may be painful, but is for their own good.
III. To learn obedience to God, we must:

Learn to wait upon the Lord in prayer (Isaiah 40:31).
Develop a love for the Word of God (Psalm. 119:23).
Realize that to obey God often means a head-on collision with human reasoning and the world system (Proverb. 1:6-7).
Know that sometimes God will allow us to walk in the dark so that we will learn to trust Him (Proverb. 3:5-6).
Expect some inner struggles (Romans. 7:15).
Learn that there is no substitute for obedience (Deuteronomy. 11:26-28).
Learn to leave all the consequences of our obedience to God (Proverb. 16:3).
As believers, we will face many decisions in life. But our ultimate question when making choices should be: Is this decision in keeping with my commitment to obey God?

Questions for Reflection

In addition to your decision to receive Christ, have you made a commitment to be obedient to God?
Is there an area of your life in which you struggle to be obedient?
What is preventing you from submitting your whole life - your relationships, your future, your job, your health, your children - to the Lordship of Jesus?
Examine the above list of seven steps to obedience. Do you have trouble with one in particular? If so, memorize the corresponding Scripture passage for encouragement.
Prayer

"Lord, help me to be obedient to you. Place within my heart the desire to demonstrate my love for You through obeying Your Word.