Obedience Is Not Optional
At times, we confuse personal opinion with spiritual authority. We think our feelings, preferences, or reasoning can sit alongside Scripture as equals. But the Bible never presents God’s Word as something to be negotiated with or adjusted to fit our comfort. From the beginning, humanity has struggled with the same temptation. We want autonomy. We want to decide what is right for ourselves. We want freedom on our own terms.
The flesh always leans this way.
Scripture is clear that our natural inclination is not toward obedience but toward self rule. The desire to define good and evil apart from God did not start with modern culture. It began in the garden. Ever since, the human heart has wrestled with the authority of God.
Jeremiah 17:9 reminds us, “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (GNT)
When we elevate our opinions above God’s Word, we are not exercising freedom. We are rejecting the only standard that leads to life.
Who Sets the Standard?
If everyone did whatever felt right to them, without submission to God, there would be no shared truth, no moral clarity, and no accountability. Scripture addresses this directly.
Judges 21:25 says, “At that time there was no king in Israel, and everyone did what they thought was right.” (GNT)
That verse is not praise. It is a warning.
God alone sets the standard because God alone is holy, righteous, and unchanging. Our opinions shift with emotions, experiences, and culture. God’s Word does not.
Psalm 119:160 declares, “The heart of your word is truth; all your righteous judgments are eternal.” (GNT)
What Biblical Obedience Really Means
Biblical obedience is not blind rule keeping or outward compliance. It is willing submission to God’s authority because we trust His character. Obedience flows from recognizing who God is and who we are in relation to Him.
To obey God is to align our actions, thoughts, and attitudes with what He has revealed in Scripture. It is choosing God’s wisdom over our instincts. It is surrendering our right to define truth for ourselves.
Jesus makes the connection unmistakably clear.
John 14:15 says, “If you love me, you will obey my commands.” (GNT)
Obedience is not how we earn God’s love. It is how love for God is expressed. When obedience is replaced with opinion, love is replaced with self interest.
God’s Ways Are Higher
One of the most common reasons people resist obedience is because God’s commands do not always make sense to us. Scripture never promises that obedience will always feel logical or comfortable. It promises that God’s wisdom is higher than ours.
Isaiah 55:8–9 says, “The Lord says, ‘My thoughts are not like yours, and my ways are different from yours. As high as the heavens are above the earth, so high are my ways and thoughts above yours.’” (GNT)
This is where humility is required. Obedience begins where opinion ends. We either trust that God knows better than we do, or we place ourselves above Him.
Obedience Is Better Than Sacrifice
God has always desired obedience over religious performance. External actions without submission mean nothing to Him.
1 Samuel 15:22 says, “Does the Lord take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings as much as in obedience? Obedience is better than sacrifice.” (GNT)
We cannot compensate for disobedience with good intentions, spiritual language, or selective obedience. God calls His people to listen, trust, and obey.
A Simple but Hard Conclusion
Our opinions do not give us permission to disobey God. Scripture is the final authority, not personal conviction, cultural pressure, or emotional reasoning. True freedom is not found in doing whatever we want. It is found in submitting to the One who created us and knows what leads to life.
Jesus said in John 8:31–32, “If you obey my teaching, you are really my disciples; you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (GNT)
Obedience is not restrictive. It is liberating.
Obey.
