Quote:
Originally Posted by Joyanne
I guess I'm confused. I do *not* support Ezzo. But I've taught my children that song and not thought a thing about it. And we did discuss what it meant first. I don't teach them that God doesn't love them if they don't obey. But I do teach them that God says if we love Him we will obey his commandments and the above verse in the other post about 'you are my friends if you keep my commandments'. I tell them that God loves us no matter what, but He wants us to obey Him. I tell them that we will be happiest and most joyful when we are living in the perfect will of God and doing His will. Is this wrong?? I do think that obeying God is a good way to show that we believe in and agree with His commands.
I'm not trying to defend anything, I am truly confused. If anyone wants to enlighten me I'd appreciate it
In Christ,
Joy
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For my part, I don't believe that we do things for God - not by our own lights, anyway. All the good we do, all the fruits of the Spirit we exhibit, are the result of *God's* work in us.
And God is not a narcissistic God
- He doesn't work in us just so we'll then do stuff for Him
. No, God works in us for our sake and for the sakes of those around us
.
God loves us, and our response to His love is to let His love overflow and spill out of us to bless others. "God doesn't need our good works, but our neighbor does."
But while is it a matter of obedience, it is primarily a matter of love. Obedience without love is nothing. We are loved, and we want to share the love
. And God has told us how to best share His love - we obey Him because of love, for the sake of love. Obedience is merely a means to an end - it is meaningless outside of love.
As well, we do not obtain any merit for our obedience - we are worthy and have merit because of God's love and His grace at work in us
. Our obedience - even our love - is not something we do *for* God
. It is something we do *because* of God
.