The Standard May 31, 2025
Obedience is not a universally popular concept in our country today. The United States was founded upon principles like self-determination, individualism, and freedom. Not many of us naturally like the thought of someone telling us what to do, and our culture increasingly seems to support this attitude in certain ways. We could ask various bosses and public-school teachers how they perceive the willingness of most employees and students to comply with directions or commands.
Before our first child was born in 1991, a sweet older couple from our church gave us a book by Gladys West Hendrick called “My First 300 Babies.” It was a no-nonsense guide written by a woman who, after raising her own children, went on to be employed by hundreds of families with newborns. Hendrick’s detailed schedule brought daily order to a lot of households. Even then, and more so now, the procedures might have seemed/might seem strict and unyielding. Some have a difficult time imagining that such rules could be instituted with love.
One Amazon reviewer wrote, “To raise an infant to be a magnificent adult, the task is to teach your child early and quickly that they are loved at all times, in all places, under all circumstances. No separation from this love is possible, nor to the child should it even be conceivable as an alternative. This book’s advocacy for order and discipline does not conflict with, but finds its source in this universal love. But for a parent who has never known this love in their own life, this book couldn’t contain enough pages to explain its basis or its message.”
There are countless situations in parenting where rules and boundaries are best for the child. The same is true for us adults in our spiritual lives. We do not obey God in order to win favor or acceptance. We obey God as a natural outgrowth of our love. Obedience demonstrating love is often true in healthy parent-child relationships. As children and young adults, if we had good parents, we wanted to please them simply because we loved them. We desired to live in the right way and for them to be proud of us. It did not cross our minds that obeying them was a way to earn their affection.
Jesus had a lot to say about obedience. “If you love me, keep my commands.” “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” “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.” John 14:15, 21,23-24a
Jesus left us with the compelling words of The Great Commission. “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely, I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’” Matthew 28:18-20
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