by Doy Moyer<\/p>\n
Obedience is not merely an outward act that conforms to a command. It is a bending of the heart, a surrender of the will, to the mind of God.<\/p>\n
If I regularly ran red lights because I didn’t want to stop, then I am a lawbreaker at heart. If I stopped at a red light because I saw a police car at the corner watching when I otherwise would have run it, then I still haven’t really obeyed as much as I have acted out of convenience for myself to avoid an unpleasant result. While that act submits to the authorities, it is not an act of a loving and pure heart. True obedience would be stopping at the red light even when no one is watching because your heart won’t bid you to run it.<\/p>\n
While we would not want the unpleasant outcome of disobeying God, the truly motivated heart of obedience acts out of love and a desire to please Him. We are not just going through outward motions corresponding to an authoritative statement; we are bending our hearts and minds toward God by drawing nearer to Him through Jesus. We love because He first loved us. We obey because we know and love God, desiring to glorify Him in all that we do. Obedience – true obedience – is a privilege for which we are grateful, not a drudgery we barely tolerate.<\/p>\n
“Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God<\/em>” (I Peter 1:22-23).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Doy Moyer Obedience is not merely an outward act that conforms to a command. It is a bending of the heart, a surrender of the will, to the mind of God. If I regularly ran red lights because I didn’t want to stop, then I am a lawbreaker at heart. If I stopped at…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[65,54,798,416],"class_list":["post-86887","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-love","tag-obedience","tag-sincerity","tag-submission"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":37861,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-and-the-concept-of-patterns\/","url_meta":{"origin":86887,"position":0},"title":"God and the Concept of Patterns","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 18, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The nature of typology shows that God is a God of patterns. Without even going through a process of trying to \"establish\" authority, God shows through His overall record that He is a God of patterns. This is evident right from the beginning when God made a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88756,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/love-service-and-obedience\/","url_meta":{"origin":86887,"position":1},"title":"Love, Service, and Obedience","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 18, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer We serve what we love, and we obey what we serve. What does that mean? It is possible to be coerced into obedience, but this is not love. However, when we love something or someone, we serve, and in serving, we obey. I believe the word \"obey\"\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":44046,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/with-all-your-heart\/","url_meta":{"origin":86887,"position":2},"title":"With All Your Heart","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 119:9-16 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It is frequently stated that the difference between the Old and New Testaments is that the Old emphasizes the physical and the New the spiritual \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In part, it comes from passages like \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Romans 2:28-29 - The true Jew is inward, not outward\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91231,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-burden-of-the-prophet\/","url_meta":{"origin":86887,"position":3},"title":"The Burden of the Prophet","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 13, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Cleve Stafford \"The word of the LORD came to me: 'Son of man, behold, I am about to take the delight of your eyes away from you at a stroke; yet you shall not mourn or weep, nor shall your tears run down. Sigh, but not aloud; make no\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":63106,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/obedience-is-not-enough\/","url_meta":{"origin":86887,"position":4},"title":"Obedience Is Not Enough","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 5, 2003","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ps. 110:3 - God\u2019s people will be volunteers \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A reference to this age and to this people assembled here \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What does it mean that you are volunteers? \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Today, we have a president interested in increasing volunteers \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He is even willing to compensate them, but that is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sermon"","block_context":{"text":"Sermon","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/sermon\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54870,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/cleaning-out-the-barn\/","url_meta":{"origin":86887,"position":5},"title":"Cleaning Out the Barn","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 17, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"by Mark McCrary Growing up, this was the job I hated the most (and, hate is not too strong a word). Three times a week I had to clean out the feed room in the barn. That includes everything you think would be included. It was a stinky, unpleasant job.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/BarnStalls-300x207.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86887","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=86887"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/86887\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=86887"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=86887"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=86887"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}