We Obey God Out of Love, Not Fear

CURRENT TEACHING SERIES Awesome Relationships

We Obey God Out of Love, Not Fear By Rick Warren — May 26, 2016 “You are my friends if you do what I command” (John 15:14 NLT, second edition). Jesus said in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command” (NLT, second edition). You can’t say you love Jesus and then go live like the devil. You can’t say you’re a Christian and then keep on living a self-centered life. You can’t say you’re a follower of Jesus and then pick and choose the verses that you want to listen to and ignore the ones you don’t. Jesus says you’re his friend if you obey him and his commandments. Why do we obey God? Nonbelievers get this wrong all the time. They say, “I don’t want to be a Christian because I don’t want to obey God. You believers obey him out of guilt or fear or obligation, and I don’t want that for my life.” Why do we really obey God? Because he loves us! He wants the best for us. He loves you like nobody else will ever love you. The Bible says the only reason there’s love in the world is because God is love. We don’t obey God out of fear or guilt or obligation. We obey God out of love because he loved us and saved us. When I was a kid in high school, a guy came up to me and said, “You’re restricted.” I said, “What do you mean?” He said, “Because you’re a Christian. You can’t do any of the fun stuff the rest of us do.” I looked him in the eye and said, “I could take all the drugs I want to take. I could get stoned all I want to get stoned. I could drink all I want to drink. I could go to all the parties I want to go to. I could go to bed with as many women as I want.” But here’s the difference: Jesus changed my “want to.” I didn’t want to do those things then. I don’t want to do those things now. They are cheap, phony thrills that seem to give a temporary kick to life but then they kick back. They may look like freedom, but they don’t last, and they lead to despair, not dignity — depression, not delight. John 15:9-11 says, “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me ... When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” God doesn’t want you to obey him because you’re afraid of him. He doesn’t want you to obey him because you’re scared of punishment. God wants you to obey him because of love. It’s his love that leads to true joy. PLAY today’s audio teaching from Pastor Rick >> Talk It Over To obey, you have to know what God tells you to do. How can you know what God wants you to do? How have you sometimes seen obedience to God as leading to restriction? How have you seen obedience to God as leading to freedom? How can parents teach their children to obey out of love and not fear? What would obeying out of love and not fear look like? Our Gift: Awesome Relationships Study Kit If you’d like to improve all of your relationships then you’ll want to experience Pastor Rick’s new four week DVD study called, Awesome Relationships. In this amazing study Pastor Rick shows you how to be intentional about building up your relationships so you can experience the awesome relationships that you desire. LEARN MORE Complete Audio Series (Purchase) Includes all complete sermons from the Rick Warren Awesome Relationships teaching series. LEARN MORE Series Summary Message 1: Fighting for an Awesome Marriage Message 2: ​​​​​​​​Fighting for an Awesome Family Message 3: ​Making Friends for Eternity Message 4: What ​Destroys Relationships and What Builds Them Message 5: Finding the Love of Your Life Message 6: ​Becoming Best Friends with God PLAY TODAY'S BROADCAST

Pastor Rick Warren

Enjoy today's Devotional? Listen instantly to the full radio message at Daily Hope Radio. Did someone forward this devotional to you? Subscribe to Pastor Rick Warren's Daily Devotional. This devotional is based on the current Daily Hope radio series at rickwarren.org. Rick Warren has helped people live with hope and on purpose for more than 40 years. He’s the founding pastor of Saddleback Church in Southern California and author of several books, including "The Purpose Driven Church" and "The Purpose Driven Life," read by more than 100 million people in 137 languages. He created the PEACE Plan (plant churches of reconciliation, equip servant leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, educate the next generation), which is used by churches in 196 countries. His radio teaching and daily devotional, Daily Hope, is offered across America. This devotional © 2016 by Rick Warren. All rights reserved. Used by permission. You can unsubscribe at any time by changing your e-mail preferences. Update your preferences  |  Unsubscribe