ATTITUDES FOR GODLY DEVELOPMENT: “OBEDIENCE”

• Throughout the Bible, is portrayed as wise and loving toward God.
• Obedience is not an arduous grind that drains all the joy from life. Obedience is joy, peace, and a clear conscience.
• 1 John 2.3-6 And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. 4 If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. 5 But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. 6 Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
• John writes these truths:

1. Obedience to God’s clear commands is demonstrated by a converted life in Jesus (v.3).

• • In that transaction from death to life, darkness to light, confinement to freedom, and shame to grace, something happened. What? A new life.
  • 2 Corinthians 5:17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!
  • Titus 1:16 Such people claim they know God, but they deny him by the way they live. They are detestable and disobedient, worthless for doing anything good.
  • John 14:15 If you love me, obey my commandments.

2. Talk is cheap (v. 4-6)

• • Any claim to know God that is not followed by obedience to Him is a .
  • As disobedience disproves a claim to know God, so obedience it.
  • What do (learners, followers) of Jesus do? They follow Jesus. They abide in Jesus. They imitate Jesus. They OBEY JESUS.

• Why Can Obedience Appear Hard To Commit To? We’re committing ourselves to a rather than to a set of demanding rules.

1. We believe we’re giving up something. In reality, we are. We’re giving up an inferior way of life.
2. We often the long-term joy that comes from following through in obedience. Let’s not trade long-term joy for short-term disobedience.
3. We can be embarrassed to be obedient to the Living God because such a is contrary to the culture.
   
   Colossians 2:8 Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.– Truth is never out of style, loses validity, or changes as the culture changes.
   – Truth is the anchor for the person who has the attitude toward godly development.
4. We can mitigate the of our disobedience.

1. God is
2. rules the heart.
3. We become witnesses to the truth.
4. The lifetime of obedience is brick by brick… decision by decision.

Where Do I Begin?

1. Start with . (1 John 1.9)
2. one habit that’s a drain.
3. for bold obedience.

• If you feel far from God today, have given up, or feel ravaged by sin, come back to Jesus, the ONE who restores and reconciles. The ONE who forgives and offers each of us HIS enduring GRACE.

Lord Jesus, I admit that I am a sinner. I know that the penalty of my sin is physical, spiritual, and eternal death. I acknowledge that I can’t do anything about my situation. But I know that You came to pay the penalty for my sin. I trust in You alone as the One who died in my place. I repent of my sin and trust in You alone as the only One who can place me in an eternal relationship with the living God. I desire to be Your child. I desire to live as Your child. In Your name. Amen.

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