Trying to Obey… or Trusting the One Who Already Did?
I’m not forcing each step—I’m walking with the One who already walked the road perfectly… and now walks it in me.
A Grace-Filled Conversation About Obedience, Effort, and Christ Within
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” – John 14:15
“I have been crucified with Christ… and the life I now live… I live by faith in the Son of God.” – Galatians 2:20
A Midweek Walk and Honest Talk
Ben:
I’ve been struggling lately to feel like I’m truly obeying Jesus. I want to do what’s right—I want to please Him—but some days I just… fail. And then I feel like I’m failing Him, too.
Me:
Yeah. I remember feeling that way a lot. I’d get up each day promising I’d do better. Pray more. Be more patient. Obey every prompting. But it always circled back to the same exhausting cycle: try, fail, feel guilty, try harder. I was aiming for obedience—but doing it in my own strength.
Ben’s View: Obedience Requires Real Effort
Ben nods. “But Jesus did say, ‘If you love Me, keep My commands.’ That sounds like something I need to do, right?”
He flips through his Bible:
Luke 6:46 – “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?”
James 1:22 – “Be doers of the word, and not hearers only…”
1 John 2:3 – “We know that we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments.”
“Obedience proves we love Him,” Ben says. “It shows our faith is real. So I feel like I should be pushing myself harder.”
My Response: Real Obedience Flows from Real Union
I nod. “You’re right that obedience matters. Jesus is clear about that. But here's the key shift: obedience doesn’t come from our effort—it comes through His life within us.”
I flip to Romans 8:4 – “The righteous requirement of the law is fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
“The flesh—our self-effort, our old ways—can’t obey. It can try, but it can’t produce life. True obedience only flows from the Spirit. That’s why Ezekiel 36:27 says, ‘I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes.’ It’s His doing, not ours.”
Ben raises an eyebrow. “So I don’t have to obey?”
“Oh no—you will obey. But the power won’t come from pushing—it’ll come from yielding. It’s Christ in you, not your performance for Him, that produces obedience.”
Trying vs. Trusting: Where Obedience Really Comes From
Obedience through effort says: I’ll do my best for God today.
Obedience through union says: Christ, live Your life through me today.
When you try harder, you depend on the flesh—even if you sprinkle it with good intentions. But when you trust, you’re resting in the reality that you’ve already been made righteous (Rom. 5:19) and that the One who fulfilled the law now lives in you.
Jesus is your obedience. Romans 5:19 says, “Through the obedience of the One the many were made righteous.” So your calling isn’t to produce righteousness. It’s to let it be expressed—by the Spirit, through your body, one moment at a time.
A Grace-Oriented Appeal
If your view of obedience feels heavy, pressured, or discouraging… maybe it’s not the obedience Jesus had in mind.
He didn’t come to be your example to imitate by willpower—He came to live in you as the obedient One. That changes everything.
So instead of waking up each day asking, “How can I obey better?”
Maybe begin by asking, “Lord, I trust You to live Your obedient life through me today.”
That’s not laziness—it’s faith. And it’s the only kind of obedience that brings life.
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