By Jennifer Moreno
Loving and worshipping God are fundamentals to growing in your spiritual walk with Jesus Christ. But if you really think about it, all of those things are great, but if your heart is not in the right place as far as obeying the Lord, then you are essentially out of touch with the gospel. What is most important is obedience. John 4:24 says “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
In Luke 6:46 you can see Jesus asking a question about this very subject. “Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?” Jesus would much rather you be obedient than worship with falsity or for others to see. When you do the will of the father, you’re essentially saying, your will Lord over mine is more important, you come first and your law is engraved in my heart.
For some, being obedient to what the Lord calls us to do can sometimes be an extreme challenge. We all make mistakes and we all fall into sin, but God wants to know if you truly intentionally wish to leave those things that make you fall into sin. For many it is a struggle between our flesh and spirit, we’re constantly battling with God about our own desires and sometimes even being stubborn in our own ways. But essentially the Holy Spirit is seeking to redeem you to take you where you should be. The Holy Spirit is taking out the junk in you and transforming you by renewing your mind. For others being obedient just comes naturally because it is an inner desire to please the Lord, but nonetheless it is still challenging to be patient and trusting. Obedience is in other words to God: faithfulness.
God is pleased with you if you are faithful in all things. 2 Timothy 2-1 says “Above all things be faithful.” Faithfulness is worshipping the Lord in truth and in spirit. Like my pastor says at my church at Elevate Miami, “Increase is at the other side of obedience.”
So you may ask, why does God put so much emphasis in obedience and faithfulness? From my perspective, I believe God puts so much importance about obedience because He isn’t interested in your “behavior” like doing all the right things as a Christian, for instance going to church (although it is important), memorizing scripture, singing songs of praise, etc. He is more interested in knowing where your “heart” is. God wants to know if your outward behavior matches your heart. Is the word of God taking an effect in your life? And that my friends is the core truth.
GODLY WORDS MINISTRIES 