Obedience

What is Obedience?

I think the simplest way we can say it is that it is doing something that somebody us tells us to do. When I looked a bit deeper into what a good Biblical definition of “obedience” might be, I found three Greek words from which the word “obey” or “obedience” has been translated from. Phobos, Hupakouo, and Hupotasso. These words mean, respectively, fear, to listen, and to subordinate oneself. Thinking about these three different words brought a lot of questions to mind. What are our motivations to be obedient, to whom should we be obedient, what is the purpose of obedience, what happens when we are disobedient?

I pray that I may share with you in an intelligible manner the stream of thoughts that came as I studied these questions further. I pray that out of that jumble in my head, I can convey something today that can be meaningful for you.

Phobos

The word “phobos” comes from Greek mythology. He was the son of Ares, the God of War, and was the personification of fear itself. Phobos as a verb means to obey out of terror and dread.

This reminds me that we often are obedient for different reasons. Let’s look at a hypothetical relationship with an employer. Let’s say my employer has very strictly told me that he expects me at my desk, working and being productive by 8 am. Perhaps I fear him. I could fear a scolding, perhaps fear a bad performance review and consequently a lack of a raise. Perhaps I could even fear I may lose my job if I do not obey this requirement. Fear can certainly motivate me to obey.

But perhaps I could obey for reasons beyond fear. Perhaps I have a sense of duty. He makes the request for me to be working by 8 am, and I understand that as he pays me, which provides for me and my family, I ought to do what he says. I understand that during the hours I am under his employ, it is my obligation to do as he requires. Those are terms we implicitly agreed to. He pays me to do things, so I should do them.

But perhaps I will choose to be at my desk by 8 am for yet another reason. Perhaps I love my job. Maybe I wake up in the morning eager to get to work and start working on things that I’m passionate about. In a way, now my employer and I are on the same page. He never needs to remind me or chastise me for being late because I’m often at my desk by 7:30 most mornings eagerly already started.

Fear, duty, and love. These are broad reasons for being obedient. And I’m sure there are many others and nuances. And each has a place. Is it bad to strive to keep the commandments because we fear for our salvation? Is it bad to be motivated to share the gospel because we fear for the salvation of others? It certainly can be a start. And with an employer, perhaps my moral sense of duty to be on time is all that an employer deserves or could expect. And this sense of duty and obligation is often a very good starting point.

In Moses, Chapter 5, Verses 6 through 7 we read:

And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying, Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I know not, save the Lord commanded me.

And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.

At first, Adam offered sacrifices for no other reason than that he was told to. Only later came a deeper understanding of it.
Jesus says as much in John, Chapter 7, Verse 17:

If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.

And Moroni says it this way in Ether, Chapter 12, Verse 6:

…for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your faith.

So, we often start down a path of obedience simply because we are told, and out of faith that the understanding and witness of it comes later. And here is one of many reasons to be obedient. It is by obedience that we gain a testimony. Obedience to specific principles leads to a testimony of those principles as we witness how they bring us blessings and bring us greater happiness.

But Love must be the greatest motivator for obedience, and one that will create the longest lasting obedience. Fear can only work for so long. With my hypothetical employer, if I only obey him out of fear, I will find ways to rebel. Our relationship will certainly end, either by my leaving or by him firing me.

We can look to Jesus Christ as our example of obedience from love. In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus knelt down and prayed in preparation to fulfill the Atonement and asked his Father (Luke 22:42-44):

If thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine be done.

And there appeared an angel unto him from heaven, strengthening him.

And being in an agony he prayed more earnestly: and his sweat was at it were great drops of blood falling to the ground.

In the Doctrine and Covenants, Jesus Christ himself describes his suffering during the Atonement (Doctrine and Covenants 19:18-19):

Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink—

Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.

Why was the Savior willing to offer himself as a sacrifice to conquer sin and death? Although he expressed to His Father the trepidation he was feeling, he was willing to do anything His Father required of Him. Moroni was contemplating these things when he found the motivation for this selfless act by the Savior. He said (Ether 12:33-34):

And again, I remember that thou has said that thou has loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men.

And now I know that this love which thou has had for the children of men is charity;

We call charity the pure love of Christ. And we see that Christ’s eternal love for us, and for His Father, led to the most singular act of heroic obedience recorded in history.

In John, Chapter 14, Verse 15, Jesus famously says:

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

Although this is usually read in a way that says that if you want to show your love for God, then you should keep his commandments, I believe the verse is equally true if read as loving God leads us to obeying Him. It is because we love Him that we desire to obey Him and to do His will. Just as with my hypothetical employer, if I’m motivated out of love for the job, and even a love for my boss, we will find ourselves more and more on the same page. Or in a gospel sense, our wills are more and more aligned.

I think a worthwhile question to ask ourselves from time to time is, “Why am I doing this?” I’m not saying there is a necessarily one right answer. I’m sure each individual with their countless actions each day have almost as many reasons for those actions. But perhaps, if we stop and think about it and are honest with ourselves, we may realize that sometimes we aren’t always being driven by the best reasons. Why am I at church? Why do I pay tithing and fast offerings? Why do I go home or visiting teaching? Why do I answer the phone when the 1st Counselor in the Bishopric calls and I know it’s about giving a talk on Sunday? Hopefully one day, we can answer all the questions like those with, “Because I love my Heavenly Father and I love his children.”

Hupakouo

(NOT FULLY THOUGHT OUT, BUT SOME INITIAL THOUGHTS)

Hupakouo means “to listen to”, and in the scriptures the translation implies “to hear and to heed”. I think we can learn a few things from this. First, an expectation of obedience can only be had if the commandment was heard. I would not consider a person who has never heard of tithing to be a sinner if he does not tithe. However, we cannot go too far with that thinking. We are all born with the Light of Christ, and we inherently know if something is wrong or right. And furthermore, as Doctrine and Covenants, Section 58, verse 26 says (Doctrine and Covenants 58:26):

For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.

Some verses that I found myself studying include Luke 11:28 and James 1:22-25.

Hupotasso

Hupotasso means to subordinate yourself to another, to recognize another’s authority.

We all have varying authorities we find ourselves submitting to. A student obeys the teacher, a child obeys their parent, a soldier obeys the commanding officer, an employee obeys his employer.

There is a relationship there. It occurred to me that the depth of these relationships is dictated by the amount of trust between both parties. Is your teacher somebody you are scared of, or do they become I lifelong mentor? Now we don’t owe everyone our undying devotion. But we should consider how we may deepen the relationship between us, as children of God, and our Heavenly Father.

Certainly obedience is at the heart of a growing relationship with God. I once heard it said that trust is greater than love, because God loves everyone, but that doesn’t necessarily means he trusts you. That trust has to be earned through a commitment to keep His commandments.

1 John, Chapter 2, Verses 3-6 says:

And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

But whose keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

We come to know Christ through obedience because as we walk, even as he has walked, following his example, we become like Him.

King Benjamin adds to this idea in Mosiah, Chapter 5, Verse 13:

For how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?

If we want a deeper relationship with our Savior, if we want to really know Him, we must serve Him, we must follow His example and serve others and obey the commandments.

Disobedience and the Atonement

We have all been disobedient.

I think of times when I have asked my children to do something, and they fail me, and I’ve found myself yelling, “I asked you to do ONE simple thing! Why couldn’t you just do it? It was so easy to just do what I asked!” Usually half way through uttering those words I feel self-indicted. I think about my Heavenly Father saying the exact same thing to me. We all fall short. And often in embarrassingly simple things. We know better, yet we find ourselves failing in the same ways over and over again. Haven’t we learned our lesson yet?? I imagine our Father in Heaven must look down at us in frustration at times, at least I’m sure he does with me.

We are all different though. What I can’t seem to get right is most likely very easy for you. And vice versa, I may have never taken a wrong step where you have.

But the answer is the same for all of us. We can all repent. The Atonement of Jesus Christ paid the debt for our sins.

Testimony

I know that obedience to God is so important. As Moroni said, we gain our testimonies through obedience. As John said in his epistles, we show our love and devotion to God through obedience. Obedience is really a form of worship. As the Doctrine and Covenants says, blessings come to us by obedience. As Isaiah said, one of the greatest blessings of obedience is peace. Also, as King Benjamin taught us, we can only know our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ if we serve them and if our hearts are not far from them. And I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ we can repent when we fail. There is always an open door and invitation to try again. And I know that we need help in those efforts. I know that through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, and only through His Atonement, can our weaknesses become strengths and that sin can be overcome.
I pray that we can all have a greater resolve to be obedient and that our desires to obey God can come from our love for Him. I pray that we can all come closer to the Savior as we strive to obey and continuously repent when we fall short.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Notes

Reasons to be obedient…
To show our love. To gain blessings. To receive a testimony. To develop a relationship. Peace

Obedience is greater than sacrifice
1 Samuel 15:22-23

Luke 11:28 – blessed are they that hear the word of God, and KEEP it.
James 1:22-25 – must do, not just hear
1 John 5:2-3 – this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments
1 John 2:3-6 – you know him by keeping his commandments
Isaiah 48:17-19 – brings peace
Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21
Alma 34:9-10
Joshua 24:15

Niccolò_Machiavelli – The Prince (1513)
Nevertheless, he must be cautious in believing and acting, and must not inspire fear of his own accord, and must proceed in a temperate manner with prudence and humanity, so that too much confidence does not render him incautious, and too much diffidence does not render him intolerant. From this arises the question whether it is better to be loved more than feared, or feared more than loved. The reply is, that one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved, if one of the two has to be wanting.

 

 

Related Books