Obedient As Christ

OBEDIENT AS CHRIST

How did the Savior show his love for his Father in Heaven? Did other things ever get in the way of that desire? What did the Savior teach about keeping the commandments? How does my obedience convey my deep love for my Savior? Do I obey with exactness?

Philippians 2:8
Hebrews 5:8-9
Jeremiah 11:3
Jeremiah 42:6
D&C 88:21-22
Alma 30:3
Alma 58:40
Moroni 6:7
Acts 5:29
Romans 5:19
Mosiah 5:8
D&C 82:10

OBEDIENT AS CHRIST QUOTES

ADDITIONAL SCRIPTURES

Mosiah 2:22-24	God blesses us immediately when we are obedient
D&C 78:7	Prepare for celestial glory through obedience.
D&C 82:10	The Lord promises to bless us when we do what he says
Abraham 3:25-26	Mortality is a time to prove ourselves through our obedience to God

 THE EXAMPLE OF THE SAVIOR

“Willing obedience provides lasting protection against Satan’s alluring and tantalizing temptations. Jesus is our perfect example of obedience. Learn to do as He did when Satan tempted Him in the wilderness. Even though He was weakened by fasting, His answer was quick and firm: “Get thee behind me, Satan.” (Luke 4:8.) Elder Neal A. Maxwell said this of the Savior’s example in resisting temptation: “Jesus noticed the tremendous temptations that came to Him, but He did not process and reprocess them. Instead, He rejected them promptly. If we entertain temptations, soon they begin entertaining us!”  When Satan comes calling, cast him out as quickly as possible. Do not let temptation even begin to entertain you… To achieve your goals in this mortal life and prove yourselves worthy of eternal blessings, learn to obey. There is no other way. Obedience brings great strength and power into your lives.”[1]

“Often we forget that obedience must be learned. Even Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, learned perfect obedience,[2] which qualified Him to serve as our Lawgiver and Lord.”[3]

THE LAW OF OBEDIENCE

“In a spiritual sense, obedience is doing God’s will.”[4]

“If we do not obey, the power to obey is lessened. Our capability to recognize good is weakened.”[5]

“Obedience helps us develop the full potential our Heavenly Father desires for us in becoming celestial beings worthy someday to live in His presence.”[6]

BECOMING MORE OBEDIENT

“Obedience brings peace in decision making. If we have firmly made up our minds to follow the commandments, we will not have to redecide which path to take when temptation comes our way. That is how obedience brings spiritual safety… Freedom and liberty are precious gifts that come to us when we are obedient to the laws of God and the whisperings of the Spirit. If we are to avoid destruction,… fences or guardrails must be built beyond which we cannot go. The fences which we must stay within are the principles of revealed truth. Obedience to them makes us truly free to reach the potential and the glory which our Heavenly Father has in store for us.”[7]

“Latter-day Saints are not obedient because they are compelled to be obedient. They are obedient because they know certain spiritual truths and have decided, as an expression of their own individual agency, to obey the commandments of God… There is an obedience that comes from a knowledge of the truth that transcends any external form of control. We are not obedient because we are blind, we are obedient because we can see.”[8]

“Obedience to the commandments is part of the nourishment you must provide for your testimony.”[9]

“Do you think that people will obey the truth because it is true, unless they love it? No, they will not. Truth is obeyed when it is loved. Strict obedience to the truth will alone enable people to dwell in the presence of the Almighty”[10]

OBEDIENCE OF FAITH

"Repentance rooted in faith further nourishes our faith as obedience is perfected. Repentance invigorates our own baptism of water and of the Spirit to produce a remission of sins committed not only before baptism but also after baptism. Christlike service to our neighbor is a critical part of the covenant keeping that nurtures faith in Christ. Over time we find that the blessings promised for obedience to God are in fact realized in our lives and that our faith is confirmed and strengthened.”[11]

“When men obey commands of a creator, it is not blind obedience. How different is the cowering of a subject to his totalitarian monarch and the dignified, willing obedience one gives to his God. The dictator is ambitious, selfish, and has ulterior motives. God’s every command is righteous, every directive purposeful, and all for the good of the governed. The first may be blind obedience, but the latter is certainly faith obedience.”[12]

“It takes a great faith to pay tithes when funds are scarce and demands are great. It takes faith to fast and have family prayers and to observe the Word of Wisdom. It takes faith to do home teaching, [member] missionary work, and other service, when sacrifice is required. It takes faith to fill full-time missions. But know this—that all these are of the planting, while faithful, devout families, spiritual security, peace, and eternal life are the harvest. … Indomitable faith can help us live the commandments with a willing heart and thereby bring blessings unnumbered, with peace, perfection, and exaltation in the kingdom of God.”[13]

"You show your trust in [God] when you listen with the intent to learn and repent and then you go and do whatever He asks. If you trust God enough to listen for His message in every sermon, song, and prayer in this conference, you will find it. And if you then go and do what He would have you do, your power to trust Him will grow, and in time you will be overwhelmed with gratitude to find that He has come to trust you."[14]

LEARNING OBEDIENCE

 “Suffering can take us one of two ways. It can be a strengthening and purifying experience combined with faith, or it can be a destructive force in our lives if we do not have the faith in the Lord’s atoning sacrifice. The purpose of suffering, however, is to build and strengthen us. We learn obedience by the things we suffer.”[15]

"Let us do whatever is required to qualify for the Holy Ghost as our companion, and then let us go forward fearlessly so that we will be given the powers to do whatever the Lord calls us to do. That growth in power to serve may come slowly, it may come in small steps that are difficult for you to see, but it will come."[16]

 “We learn obedience … by following the counsel of living prophets and other appointed church leaders… Our Heavenly Father communicates His will through His prophet, and God will not permit His prophet to lead His people astray… We should be obedient and supportive of those who preside over us.”[17]

“We learn obedience by disciplining our lives in all things. One process by which we discipline ourselves is by repentance, for it ‘is the way to annul the effects of a previous lack of obedience in one’s life.’[18]”[19]

"We cannot keep all the commandments without first knowing them, and we cannot expect to know all, or more than we now know unless we comply with or keep those we have already received.”[20]

 “People learn obedience by being obedient. We see its fruits. Halfhearted obedience is without reward. The gospel invites vigorous participation in living its principles. God commands that we serve him with all our heart, with all our might, with all our strength, and with the very best of our intelligence.”[21]

 “We learn obedience, as the Savior did, by the things which we suffer. As we consider the lives of Saints in both past and present dispensations, we learn their lives were refined by affliction, hardship, persecution, and personal suffering… Sometime in the eternities to come, we will see that our trials were calculated to cause us to turn to our Heavenly Father for strength and support. Any affliction or suffering we are called upon to bear may be directed to give us experience, refinement, and perfection… Our reward in the eternities are predicated on our level of obedience. If we are fully obedient to celestial law, fulfilling the laws of Christ, we will be worthy of celestial glory.”[22]

GAUGING MY LEVEL OF OBEDIENCE

“1. Do I study and ponder the scriptures in an effort to know the will of God and understand His commandments regarding His children?

2. Do I follow the counsel of God’s living prophet, or do I merely select those things with which I agree, disregarding the others?

3. Do I seek the advice and counsel of my bishop and stake president on matters of concern to me and my family?

4. Am I earnestly striving to discipline myself, placing my physical appetites under the subjection of my will?

5. Am I making every effort to repent of past or present wrongdoings and correct them by doing right?

6. Do I have an attitude of faith in God even though I experience trials, adversity, and affliction? And do I bear my burden without a complaining spirit?”[23]

BLESSINGS OF OBEDIENCE

At the time of his appointment as President of the Church, Harold B. Lee said: “The safety of the Church lies in the members keeping the commandments. … As they keep the commandments, blessings will come… Obedience to the Lord’s commandments provides us confidence in our chosen path, qualifies us for His guidance and direction as we pursue our efforts, and offers us the potential to become like our Savior, Jesus Christ, and return to our Father’s presence.”[24]

“…daily obedience to gospel principles is the only sure way to eternal happiness. President Ezra Taft Benson put it most poignantly when he said, “When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.”[25]

“Our safety and happiness and our wealth depend upon our obedience to God and His laws, and our exaltation in time and eternity depends upon the same thing. If we have means placed in our hands we will ask our Father to enable us to do what is right with it, and, as I have said, we will ask Him for our daily bread, and thank Him for it; just the same as the children of Israel did.”[26]

 “My message to you … is this: by obedience to the laws of the gospel, you can lift yourselves above the quagmire of sin that surrounds us in this world. In addition to helping you to become better servants of the Lord, obedience to these laws will help you to be better in everything you undertake in life, whether it be your activity in the Church, your family, education, business, profession, science, athletics, or any other worthwhile endeavor. You will be a better son, a better brother, and a better friend. You will enjoy your life more; you will be happier and at peace with yourself because you will know that your life is acceptable to your Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.”[27]

“The windows of heaven are open wide to the faithful and righteous; nothing closes them faster than disobedience. … Diligent, enduring obedience to God’s laws is the key that opens the windows of heaven. Obedience enables us to be receptive to the mind and will of the Lord. ‘The Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient’[28] are those who receive the blessings of revelation through the open windows of heaven”[29]

“I … know that when we try in faith to walk in obedience to the requests of the priesthood, the Lord opens the way, even when there appears to be no way.”[30]

"True success in this life comes in consecrating our lives—that is, our time and choices—to God’s purposes. In so doing, we permit Him to raise us to our highest destiny."[31]

"Our love for our Father in Heaven and the Lord Jesus Christ needs to be reflected in our daily choices and actions. They have promised peace, joy, and happiness to those who keep Their commandments."[32]

 “In obedience there is joy and peace unspotted, unalloyed; and as God has designed our happiness … He never will institute an ordinance or give a commandment to His people that is not calculated in its nature to promote that happiness which He has designed, and which will not end in the greatest amount of good and glory to those who become the recipients of his law and ordinances.”[33]

“Obedience brings strength and power into you lives.”[34]

"We may not avoid every storm of life, but following the counsel of living prophets will help us ride out the storm."[35]

OBEDIENT AS CHRIST - ADDITIONAL NOTES

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[1] Joseph B Wirthlin, Live in Obedience, Ensign, May 1994

[2] See Hebrews 5:8-9

[3] Delbert L Stapley, The Blessings of Righteous Obedience, Ensign, Nov 1977

[4] Guide to the Scriptures: Obedience

[5] Teddy E Brewerton, Obedience – Full Obedience, Ensign, May 1981

[6] James E Faust, Obedience: The Path to Freedom, Ensign, May 1999

[7] James E Faust, Obedience: The Path to Freedom, Ensign, May 1999

[8] Boyd K Packer, Agency and Control, Ensign, May 1983

[9] Henry B Eyring, A Living Testimony, Ensign, May 2011

[10] Brigham Young

[11] D Todd Christofferson, Building Faith in Christ, Liahona, September 2012

[12] Spencer W Kimball, Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Chapter 13: Obedience Born of Faith in God

[13] Spencer W Kimball, Teachings of Presidents of the Church, Chapter 13: Obedience Born of Faith in God

[14] Henry B. Eyring, "Trust in God, Then Go and Do", Ensign, Nov 2010

[15] Robert D Hales, Your Sorrow Shall Be Turned to Joy, Ensign, Nov 1983

[16] Henry B. Eyring, "Serve with the Spirit", General Conference, October 2010

[17] Delbert L Stapley, The Blessings of Righteous Obedience, Ensign, Nov 1977

[18] Spencer W Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 28

[19] Delbert L Stapley, The Blessings of Righteous Obedience, Ensign, Nov 1977

[20] Joseph Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 256

[21] David B Haight, Our Lord and Savior, Ensign, May 1988

[22] Delbert L Stapley, The Blessings of Righteous Obedience, Ensign, Nov 1977

[23] Delbert L Stapley, The Blessings of Righteous Obedience, Ensign, Nov 1977

[24] Bruce A Carlson, When the Lord Commands, Ensign, May 2010

[25] Donald L Staheli, Obedience: Life’s Great Challenge, Ensign, May 1998

[26] John Taylor

[27] Joseph B Wirthlin, Live in Obedience, Ensign, May 1994

[28] D&C 64:34

[29] Joseph B Wirthlin,  Windows of Light and Truth, Ensign, Nov. 1995

[30] Gordon B Hinckley, If ye Be Willing and Obedient, Ensign, July 1995

[31] D. Todd Christofferson, "Reflections on a Consecrated Life", General Conference, October 2010

[32] M. Russell Ballard, "O That Cunning Plan of the Evil One", General Conference, October 2010

[33] Joseph Smith  as quoted by Delbert L Stapley, The Blessings of Righteous Obedience, Ensign, Nov 1977

[34] Joseph B Wirthlin, Live in Obedience, Ensign, May 1994

[35] Quentin L. Cook, "Members in Isolated City Radiate "Goodness, Dedication, Faith, and Love"", Church News and Events, 6/26/2012