Love > Obedience
Dear Calvary Family,
I was just talking with Tim Nellis and Matt Doan on our Calvary Life Podcast this week. I loved a point that Tim was driving home in his sermon on Sunday and one that we discussed further on the podcast. It was his point that we need to prioritize the love of God over obedience to God. Now that could possibly even sound controversial until you really think about it. He’s not saying that we don’t need to be obedient. He’s saying that we need to place receiving the love of God first in our life.
Let me reiterate it in my own words and in my own story but you can listen to the Sermon Here and the Podcast Here.
This concept was something I processed through on my sabbatical as well. We receive God’s love first and foremost and then we do anything else out of that love from God. So we even love God out of His love for us. We love people out of God’s love for us. We obey God’s commands out of God’s love for us. We share our faith out of God’s love for us. We serve those in need out of God’s love for us. And so on and so on.
If we place obedience first then we are likely doing it out of duty or obligation or to look good for others. When we place receiving God’s love first then we are obeying out of love and the power of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly, placing love first is actually being obedient as well. This can make your head spin!
So I encourage you to place yourselves in a position of availability and openness to God’s love.
For me, that’s removing the noise and busyness of life and getting to a place of quiet and listening to God. For you that could be the same or it could be reading your Bible or singing songs or listening to music or getting out into nature. It could be connecting with our Soul Care Ministries for Prayer Counseling, Spiritual Direction or Life Counseling that helps us deal with some obstacles we have between us and the love of the Father. It’s likely something that takes you out of the fast-paced hectic lives that many of us live. We take a breath and just recognize God’s presence with us. We ask God to help us be aware of His great love for us.
Let’s be a church that lives this way and then helps each other live as followers of Jesus that know Him intimately. That’s the beautiful kind of church that God is calling us to be.
May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Eric Wakeling
P.S. We also want to be in prayer and look for ways to tangibly reach out and extend God's love to those impacted by the earthquake in Turkey and Syria this week. See below for an update from our Reach Ministries.
REACH GLOBAL UPDATE: TURKEY & SYRIA
It has been heartbreaking to hear about the tragedies of lives lost due to the earthquake in the Turkey/Syria region earlier this week. We have ministry partners in Western Turkey (about 300 miles from the earthquake epicenter) and on the nearby island of Cyprus. Both families are thankfully unharmed and we are in the process of talking with them about ways we can partner with them in the relief efforts.
We will keep you updated as any opportunities to help come together. In the meantime, our ministry partner in Cyprus shared these suggestions from a church leader in the UK on ways we can all be praying now:
- PEOPLE affected - Comfort for those suddenly grieving the tragic loss of loved ones, those who’ve lost homes, those injured and scared.
- PEACEMAKERS - Resilience and resource for NGO’s, frontline workers, medics, search and rescue teams etc.
- POLITICIANS - Wisdom to co-operate & communicate well, making good and speedy decisions for those worst afflicted.
- PASTORS - Strength as they process their own trauma whilst also seeking to bind up broken hearts, caring for the poor, arranging funerals, and preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Stay up to date with Calvary's Reach Ministries at CalvaryLife.org/Reach