Week 1 - The Heart of Obedience | Month 2 - Obedience
Scriptural anchor for us through Week 1:
John 14:15 (ESV) – “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Stepping Forward in Obedience
Last month, we dug deep into the foundational knowledge of our Identity in Christ - chosen, named, known, and loved by the Father. That foundation matters because who we are shapes how we live. But identity without obedience quickly becomes hollow. James warns us:
“Be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves” (James 1:22 ESV).
Now we step into Month 2: Obedience. Obedience is not cold submission or lifeless duty. It is the living proof of love, and at some point, you have to face the reality of how your thoughts and actions are reflecting your real personal relationship with your Saviour. So take a moment to ask yourself now.
Jesus said plainly: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15 ESV).
Love and obedience are inseparable - love gives obedience its joy, and obedience proves love’s sincerity. Guilt and the gut feeling that “that was wrong”, that too is a sign of Love’s nudge to obedience, so heed its warning.
The early church echoed this. Augustine wrote, “Love, and do what you will.” His meaning wasn’t license to continue in sin, but alignment: When we truly love God, our will bends toward His will, and obedience ceases to be burdensome. To put it in more modern language - “You do what you love.”
The Apostle John said the same: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3 ESV).
So the question before us is this:
If we know who we are in Christ, will we now live as His sons and daughters by obeying His word?
Cultural Myth of Freedom
Modern Western culture exalts the word freedom, but often without responsibility, choice without consequence, you can be anyone, do anything, and have your own truth, leaving no tangible objective reality. We have dropped into subjective reality. We have lost the Rights & Responsibilities aspect of freedom within our personal and civic life. We have forgotten what we are free from and what we are free to do.
As always, scripture has already provided the remedy and offers us a renewed appreciation for the dual nature of freedom; it implores obedience, but not as bondage, instead rightly as the pathway to true freedom. Freedom from sin, from death.
Jesus said, “Everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin… but if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:34, 36 ESV).
Freedom is not the absence of authority - it is life under the right authority.
The psalmist declares: “I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart” (Psalm 40:8 ESV).
True free obedience is not really all about external compliance, but rather inward desire - our hearts reshaped to want what God wants. That is why Ezekiel prophesied of the new covenant:
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you… and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26–27 ESV).
Personally, my own experience has shown me, that reason and facts alone can’t anchor us, especially within the ever-faster shifting times in which we live. Evidence changes, arguments twist, and truth is bartered online like currency for views and hits. I used to lean heavily on reason to make sense of life - proof to find truth, reality to reach the dream, starting at the subject and then expecting art, choreography to find the dance. It simply doesn’t work.
And for a lot of people out there, perhaps you, reading or listening this, reason alone is feeling blank and void of truth.
Facts have become unreliable guides especially when everyone shapes them to fit their own narrative. As Isaiah warned:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness” (Isaiah 5:20 ESV).
And we do live in a time of clouded and murky virtue-signaled light, and the upcoming generation is seeing through it.
So, where does this new generation and where do we turn? Even we as believers. For truth, for guidance on decisions, big life decisions, and daily small ones, how are we supposed to chart a course through these modern waters? Where do we turn? Well, not to current evidence or momentary facts or logic.
We turn instead for all things to: Faith expressed through obedience.
Obedience to pray into the world the word of God. We exalt our Lord into the fabric of our days instead of relying on the days to inspire the spirit within us. We use prayer and poetry to establish the truth, and to inspire the mundane around us. We bring the strength, love, music, and art of heaven down into the dust to chart a path of light for ourselves and others, to inspire ourselves with the Word of God, rather than be overwhelmed by the sad reality of man’s un-ambition around us.
To admit the ugly realities around us, and yet still choose to believe and obey.
To pray when prayer feels foolish. To obey when obedience feels costly.
Prayer is the place where this obedience begins.
As one of our group put it a few weeks back, “Life is one big continual prayer.”
It is not a hollow ritual but a reorientation of our hearts. Prayer is where we breathe, surrender, and reset. Sometimes it is a sigh, sometimes a guttural scream. It anchors us without chaining us, it gives us a stable floor from which to rise, to pick up our cross, and move forward to follow Christ.
Obedience is not about perfection. It is about surrender.
Not trusting our own reason as final, but trusting the One who is truth itself. As Paul reminds us: “For we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7 ESV). Faith fuels obedience. Prayer fuels faith. And obedience, rooted in love, is the visible mark of discipleship in the world.
To put this section succinctly: Obedience in faith, from a heart filled with the Love of the Father, is the foundation of all action. Obedience starts with choosing to believe God’s word over our own perceptions and perceived realities; from that starting position, we can operate within Christ’s commands.
What Christ Commands
If we are called to obey, we must ask: what exactly does Jesus command us to do? The Gospels are full of His clear instructions, not as heavy burdens but as invitations into life. We will be covering these ongoing throughout the Envoy Program, but here are some of the central commands to get us started:
Seek first the kingdom of God. (Matthew 6:33 ESV)
Repent and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:15 ESV)
Abide in His love. “Abide in me, and I in you.” (John 15:4 ESV)
Love God wholeheartedly. “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” (Matthew 22:37 ESV)
Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow Him. (Luke 9:23 ESV)
Pray continually and do not lose heart. (Luke 18:1 ESV)
Forgive others. “Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” (Luke 6:37 ESV)
Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:39 ESV)
Serve one another. “The greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Matthew 23:11 ESV)
Make disciples of all nations. (Matthew 28:19–20 ESV)
These are not “life coach” suggestions; they are commands flowing from the heart of Christ, your King for your benefit and for the world’s benefit. And every one of them calls us into deeper love and surrender.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer said:
“Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.”
How Christ Calls Us to Obey
Just as important as what Jesus commands is how He calls us to live out that obedience. His way is different from the heavy burdens of religion or the cold demands of our human proxy rulers:
With love, not fear. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15 ESV). Our obedience flows out of relationship, not terror.
With faith. “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:29 ESV). Belief fuels obedience; obedience strengthens belief.
With humility. “Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (Matthew 11:29 ESV). True obedience is marked by gentleness and surrender.
With joy. “These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11 ESV). Obedience is not grim duty but a doorway into joy.
With perseverance. “The one who endures to the end will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13 ESV). Obedience is a long walk of faith, not a single act.
Through the Spirit’s power. “The Helper, the Holy Spirit… will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” (John 14:26 ESV). We obey not in our own strength but by His Spirit.
This is the heart of Christian obedience: Not lifeless duty, but love-filled action. Not burdensome striving, but Spirit-enabled surrender.
As Saint Augustine (354-430) preached, “Obedience is the mother of all virtues.”
This Week’s Scripture Reading Plan
Read one passage each day.
Ask: What does this show me about obedience and how love fuels it?
John 14:15-24 - If you love me, keep my commands.
Deuteronomy 10:12-13 - What does the Lord require of you?
Matthew 7:24-27 - The wise man who builds on the rock.
Romans 6:15-23 - From slaves of sin to slaves of righteousness.
James 1:22-25 - Be doers of the Word, not hearers only.
1 John 5:1-5 - His commandments are not burdensome.
The prayer we are petitioning over one another as we move through this week:
“Lord Jesus, we confess that obedience often feels costly, but You have shown us that it is the pathway to freedom. Root our obedience in love for You, not fear or duty. Holy Spirit, bend our wills toward Yours, and teach us to walk in joyful surrender each day. May our lives shine as living testimonies that we belong to Christ, in whose name we pray. Amen.”
Reflection Questions
Where in my life am I resisting God’s commands or delaying obedience?
Do I see obedience as a burden or as a response of love? Why?
How is the Holy Spirit prompting me to obey in a specific, practical way this week?
What would change in my relationships, work, or daily habits if I obeyed Christ wholeheartedly?
Am I trying to follow Christ in my own strength, or am I relying on His Spirit to empower obedience?
How can I turn prayer into a place of surrender, not just requests, this week?
Practice for the Week
Practice Obedient Prayer: Each day, ask God not only for what you want but help to surrender to what He wills. Pray: “Lord, what are You calling me to obey today?”
Journal Prompt: Write down one command of Christ that is honestly difficult for you to obey. Bring it humbly before Him in prayer, asking His Spirit to empower your obedience.
Watch / Listen / Read
Watch
“The Joy of Obedience” | Charles Stanley (In Touch Ministries)
Link to the full video of the sermon - LINK
In this teaching, Dr. Stanley explains that obedience is not about rules but about relationship. He unpacks how God’s commands are expressions of His love, designed for our freedom and flourishing. Obedience, he shows, is both the pathway to intimacy with Christ and the evidence of genuine faith.
Short snippet on Dr Stanley’s Reasons To Obey:
Read
The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer – Chapter on “The Call to Discipleship”
Link to PDF of book - Page 61
Bonhoeffer presses us to see obedience as inseparable from faith. “Only he who believes is obedient, and only he who is obedient believes.” This timeless chapter calls us beyond cheap grace into costly, love-fueled obedience.
Listen
“Is Obedience Without Affection Still Love?” | John Piper
A short but powerful reminder that obedience is not about legalism but love. Piper unpacks Jesus’ words in John 14:15, showing how obedience is the natural overflow of love for Christ.
Link to the podcast - John Piper Link
How Great Thou Art / This Little Light of Mine - Steph Macloed
This one gets me, not only because we sang it growing up and at my Grandfather’s funeral with the full might of the Welsh Male Voice Choirs in the old stone chapel of Ebbw Vale, but because of the declaration of it. The perspective, the singing of my soul.
Obedience - Lindy & The Circuit Riders
This song reminds us that obedience is not about duty but about love - saying “yes” to God and stepping boldly into His calling.
God is With Us (Appalachian style)
A hauntingly beautiful Appalachian rendition of this Orthodox call to action for the nation that “ God is With Us.”, and indeed, he is!
📅 This Week’s 30-Min Rally Point
We’ll meet for our first 30-minute rally point this Thursday at 7:00 PM EST via Zoom.
This is a space for reflection, encouragement, and activation, a rhythm of checking in, praying together, and pressing forward.
🕖 Zoom Time: Thursday @ 7:00 PM EST
🔗 Click to join the Zoom call - Zoom URL
Format:
Welcome & Opening Prayer (2 min)
Scripture Reading (3 min)
Teaching Recap (5 min)
Discussion Questions (12 min)
Heart-Level Questions:
Head-Level Questions:
Hands-Level Questions:
Practice Together (5 min)
Closing Encouragement & Prayer (3 min)
Bring a Bible, a journal, and any wins or wrestles you want to share. This is a safe space to grow.
Next Week's Topic: M2 - Obedience | W2 - Everyday Surrender
Read ahead with our M2 W2 Anchor Scripture:
“And he said to all, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.’” (Luke 9:23 ESV)
This passage takes us deeper into the heart of obedience by showing us that following Jesus is not a one-time decision but a daily surrender. Christ calls us to lay down self-interest, self-will, and self-reliance and to embrace the way of the cross.
Remember: obedience is not just about the moments of big decisions - it’s about a life of continual surrender.
God is with us!
Thank you for drawing near. May the Lord bless your obedience, steady your heart, and fill you with joy as you walk in His ways this week.
I’m glad you’re here.
Let’s run the race - Eyes Up, Chin Up!
Grace and peace,
Sam Johnston
