Obedience: Love That Shows Up
September 26, 2026
Obedience has fallen out of fashion. In a culture that prizes personal freedom and individual expression, the idea of submitting our will to God’s commands can feel restrictive. But Scripture reveals something the world misses entirely: obedience is not the opposite of freedom. It is the path to it. And at its deepest level, it is not a rule — it is love.
Jesus says it simply in John 14:15: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (NKJV). Not “if you fear My punishment” or “if you want to earn My favour.” If you love Me. Obedience flows from relationship, not obligation. It is love that shows up in action.
We see it blazing in the life of Abraham. Called to leave everything he knew for a destination he could not see, he went. Called to offer up the son through whom all the promises had come, he raised the knife. Not because Abraham was without fear, but because he had learned that God could be trusted absolutely. His obedience was the language of his faith.
Moses is the same. Faced with Pharaoh, faced with the Red Sea, faced with a grumbling, faithless people in the wilderness, he kept returning to God for the next instruction. He did not lead on his own initiative. He led through ongoing obedience.
The contrast is King Saul — a man who obeyed in part, kept what he wanted, and lost the kingdom. Partial obedience is disobedience with a friendly face. It looks compliant while quietly protecting the thing we will not surrender.
Friend, God is not looking for a perfect record. He is looking for a surrendered heart. A heart that says, “Yes, Lord” — not only when it is comfortable, but when it costs something. That is obedience. That is love.
May your love for Him show up in full obedience today. Amen.