Obedience

I finally finished the book I was reading in the morning, Saints. It was pretty interesting, I'm excited for the next one. I've been in Illinois for almost two months now, the time has gone by so fast. Mostly because we have to work our guts out and barely have time to think about what's happening next to realize 7 weeks have gone by. We finished up midterms last week and we're straight back into the insanity of daily classes again. There have been some crazy deer encounters (pretty much daily)  some PTSD inciting spider encounters (I almost got one straight in the face this week) and some good times with school friends who make being away from home much easier.

Since I finished the book last week I started studying about obedience, apparently it was the lesson this week at church, so it really worked out. Today as we discussed obedience I thought a lot about who and what are we obedient to and why.

• Laws - I assume so we don't go to jail, maybe to stay safe and keep others safe, possibly because we have a little bit of a moral compass that leads us to believe that helps us be good people. 
• School Rules - The honor codes get more and more intense as you move up the degree chain. We were given a frank chat by our dean that scared people into wanting to confess every mistake they'd ever made. In this instance, a big motivation is not getting kicked out of the program, or being able to join the bar some day. 
• Social Ques - This one is random, but it's rare you meet someone who goes against the unspoken rules of social interaction, I guess the only benefit is to hope you're not the weirdest person in the room (or elevator).
• Personal Rules - Do you have personal rules? I sometimes do. One really important one I missed this week is that I open the door and wait before I go out in case any spiders drop on my head. That's how I almost walked face first into a giant spider in its web. I have a few others I make up for myself from time to time, not studying school work on Sundays, not shopping on Sundays, reading my scriptures before I go to bed, only speeding 5-10 over the limit (it's good to have boundaries). But why do I keep my own rules? I think it depends on the rule. Mainly because I don't want a spider on my face.

Taking an inventory of all the different rules, laws, habits, superstitions we are obedient to it makes sense that we may prone to also following higher laws or laws outside of our own making. Spiritual speaking obedience goes back to the very beginning, when Eve took a bite of the apple. Other great examples are Abraham, Moses, pretty much anyone mentioned in the bible. The perfect example is Jesus Christ, whose obedience allowed for all of the mistakes the rest of us have made and will make. It also demonstrates a path worth trying to follow. 

It is often said that people are obedient for 3 reasons: (1)out of fear, (2)for the reward, and (3)out of love. The fear one is interesting, it's not a great reason to be obedient, it's better than not being obedient, but it also seems the most risky. I'm not sure fear will help anyone grow, feel confident or obtain any level of consistency. But with work I have seen people move from fear to reward and eventually do being obedient out of love. 

In relation to obedience to God, our Heavenly Father, I've never understood the reason of doing it out of fear. Everything about God and Jesus Christ is love, the plan of God instituted, the plan Jesus Christ volunteered to participate in was all because of the love they have for us. I was a missionary for my church and I don't remember anyone ever teaching someone to be obedient out of fear. It doesn't stop imperfect people, like me, from having fear, or acting out of fear, but it gives us a lot of opportunity to find another way, another reason, another purpose. 

1 John 4:18 - perfect love casteth out fear. 

John 14:21- he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me

Our agency to make choices is one of the greatest gifts we have, making choices God wants us to make shows that we love him, because we choose to follow him with our agency. When we are obedient we also show faith and trust in God. This can sometimes be difficult when we don't understand why we're being asked to do something or see how it can all work out. In my experience it always has. Like with school, not studying on Sundays sometimes causes me to super stress out on Saturday nights because I know that I've run out of time. In the last two months it was always worked out in the end, sometimes just barely (because I shouldn't have wasted so much time earlier in the week) but it has always worked out. We do not always have to know to be obedient, that's where faith, trust and love get us to where we need or want to be. 

Obedience is a lifelong challenge, one we'll never be free from. There will always be something that challenges us to use our agency to choose what is right. Sometimes we will fail, maybe even a lot of times, but we will always be given another chance. Each day we can start fresh and try again. That is the gift the Savior gave us, the opportunity to keep trying. That's also the challenge. Don't give up, try again, eventually we'll get it right.