Loving Obedience 顺服的爱
Dexu Xia
Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. John 14:21 nlt
During our wedding ceremony, our minister said to me, “Do you promise to love, honor, and obey your husband, until death do you part?” Glancing at my fiancé, I whispered, “Obey?” We’d built our relationship on love and respect—not blind obedience, as the vows seemed to suggest. My husband’s father captured on film that wide-eyed moment when I processed the word obey and said, “I do.”
Over the years, God has shown me that my resistance to the word obey had nothing to do with the incredibly complex relationship between a husband and wife. I’d understood obey to mean “subjugated” or “forced submission,” which Scripture doesn’t support. Rather, the word obey in the Bible expresses the many ways we can love God. As my husband and I celebrate thirty years of marriage, through the power of the Holy Spirit we’re still learning to love Jesus and each other.
When Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15 nlt), He showed us that obedience to the Scriptures would be the result of an ongoing loving and intimate relationship with Him (vv. 16-21).
Jesus’ love is selfless, unconditional, and never forceful or abusive. As we follow and honor Him in all our relationships, the Holy Spirit can help us see obedience to Him as a wise and loving act of trust and worship. By: Xochitl Dixon
How does seeing obedience to God as an act of love and trust change your view of His desire for obedience? How has God proven that you can trust Him?
Dear Jesus, please help me love You and others through obedience to the Scriptures.
· 那领受我的命令，并且遵守的，就是爱我的。—约翰福音14章21节，新译本记得在我和艾伦的婚礼上，牧师问我：“你承诺爱妳的丈夫，尊敬他、顺服他，至死不渝吗？”我睁大双眼看着艾伦，小声地说：“顺服？”我们的关系向来都是以爱与尊重为基础，而这誓言说的似乎有点像盲目顺从。我睁大双眼，思考顺服的意思，然后才说：“我愿意。”而艾伦的父亲拍下的视频，正好捕捉到了我犹豫的那个片刻。
多年来，上帝已经向我显明，我所抗拒的顺服一词跟微妙的夫妻关系毫不相干。我把顺服理解为“屈从”或“被迫服从”，但圣经并不支持这样的看法。反之，在圣经里顺服一词是指我们以行动表明对上帝的爱。如今，在我与丈夫庆祝结婚30年之际，我们仍然藉着圣灵的大能，不断地学习去爱耶稣和对方。
耶稣说：“你们若爱我，就必遵守我的命令”（约翰福音14章15节）。祂藉此向我们表明，我们因为与祂保持爱与亲密关系，才能顺服圣经的真理（16-21节）。
耶稣的爱是无私的、无条件的，没有强迫，也不会带来伤害。在我们与他人的人际关系中，当我们愿意跟随并尊崇耶稣时，圣灵便能帮助我们看见，顺服祂是一种智慧与爱的行动，是对祂的信靠与敬拜。 作者： 邓书琪
当你将顺服上帝视为一种爱与信靠的行动，
如何改变你对上帝要求我们顺服的看法？
上帝曾如何让你知道祂是可以信靠的？
耶稣，请帮助我藉着
顺服圣经真理去爱祢与爱他人。