Obeying Outwardly is not Enough!

Obeying parents is more than just doing what they said to do,, it is doing it with a willing heart and a desire to please them. Passive-aggressive children do what they are told with a heart that resents the parent as they do it.

It is not considered obedience to God if the heart hates the parent and only obeys outwardly to avoid punishment or to be seen as a special child. Motivation is everything because God says it is the heart that is either obedient or disobedient, not merely the action.

Hosea 6:6

"6 For I [a]desire loyalty rather than sacrifice,

And the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings"

Matthew 9:13

"But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

Matthew 12:7

"If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent."

Micah 6:6-8

"With what shall I come before the LORD when I bow before the God on high? Should I come to Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? / Would the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? / He has shown you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you but to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God?"

One thing God hates more than anything is sacrifice for outward show. He wants the actions to reflect a genuine heart of love. Love will always cause the actions to be unadulterated and authentic.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

"4 Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant. 5 It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, 6 it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never fails; "

Those who only want to appear loving will be users, those who authentically love care deeply about others.

Matthew 7:21-23

I Never Knew You

21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’"