What's your Motivation for Obedience?

Hello Everyone,
Jesus says if we love Him we will obey Him. This week we are going to take a look at “What’s Your Motivation For Obedience?” Because Obedience is “The Acid Test of Love”.

Read with me:
John 14:15, 21-24 15“If you love me, you will obey what I command . . . 21Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” 22Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?” 23Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 24He who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me.” (NIV)

Jesus links obedience to His commands as a sign or proof of the genuine love of His followers. We find Jesus saying this four times within the space of ten verses (verses 15, 21, 23 and 24); do you think Jesus was trying to make a point?

Jesus said, “if you love me, then you will obey my commandments.” In other words, love produces obedience.

It is possible to obey Jesus’ words and not love Him, but it is impossible to love Him and not obey Him.

Let me ask you a question: Why Do You Obey Jesus?· Do you obey Jesus because you are looking forward to the reward of heaven?·
Do you obey Jesus because you are afraid of being punished? ·
Do you obey Christ’s commands because you have no other choice; is it a self-imposed self-righteousness like the Pharisees?·
Do you obey Jesus simply because you LOVE Him?

This week let’s look at these four different motives of obedience and see if we can figure out what they might look like in real life.

All For Jesus
Pastor Phil