The last two weeks at Samaritan's purse were extremely draining, physically taxing, and emotionally exhausting. I struggled to move forward throughout the week, but I am so glad I did because the fruit that came out of it was life-changing. I kept going because the Lord commands me to obey him. The concept of obedience to the Father has come up many times for me recently. 

It might be pretty obvious that as the writing intern, my love language is words of affirmation. I can't get enough written and spoken words. If you don't know what I am referring to, the five love languages are five different ways of expressing and receiving love: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service, and physical touch. We have talked about love languages in my team, and I have enjoyed learning how to love my sisters in Christ better. 

I am in the process of reading through the Bible. I am finishing Leviticus, the book of laws and statutes God laid out for the Israelites to follow after he led them out of slavery in Egypt. The underlying message is that God is holy, his character demands his people to be holy, and he is not only holy but gracious, providing atonement for sin. 

In Leviticus, we see the Lord commanding holiness, "You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." (19:2). Holding us to this standard of perfection is not just something in the Old Testament. In fact, in 1 Peter 1:16 it reads, "For it is written: “Be holy because I am holy". This call to holiness is referenced when talking about obedience. In Matthew 5:48 Jesus says, "You, therefore, must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect". This is not to say that salvation is only for those who live in some unreachable perfection, for we know that Jesus died to save the sinner (Romans 5:32), but it is to say his standard for his children is the standard he holds his Son to. 

We will never meet this standard, so it can be hard to find the motivation to obey until we realize that obedience is the Father's love language. We do not obey so that the Lord will love us; his love for us is not dependent on our obedience to him. We obey him because we love him. Obedience is our delight in the Father. We are commanded to "delight yourself in the Lord" (Psalm 37:4). We do not obey to enjoy him; we enjoy him so we obey. 

"Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him"

In other words, our love for the Father and keeping His commandments can affect the coherence, pleasant fragrance, and tangibility of Jesus in our hearts. 

Love and obedience go hand in hand; one does not lead to the other. My salvation is not dependent on my obedience because his "grace is sufficient" (2 Corinthians 12:9). My love for the Father pushes me to love others better and keep his commandments.