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Obedience


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Doctrinal Study

Obedience

Overview

One reason we are here on the earth is to show our willingness to obey Heavenly Father’s commandments. God gives commandments for our benefit. Obedience to the commandments leads to blessings from God and shows our love for Him.

Some people feel that the commandments are burdensome and that they limit freedom and personal growth. But the Savior taught that true freedom comes only from following Him: “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31–32). God gives commandments for our benefit. They are loving instructions for our happiness and for our physical and spiritual well-being.

In the premortal existence, Heavenly Father presided over a great Council in Heaven. There we learned of His plan for our salvation, which included a time of testing on the earth: “We will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:24–25). One reason we are here on the earth is to show our willingness to obey Heavenly Father’s commandments.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that obedience to the commandments leads to blessings from God. He said: “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—and when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21). King Benjamin also taught this principle. “I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God,” he counseled. “For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it” (Mosiah 2:41).

Our obedience to the commandments is an expression of our love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The Savior said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). He later declared: “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love” (John 15:10).

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“Obedience Brings Blessings”

Jesus Christ Is the Perfect Example of Obedience”

“Selective Obedience”

“Teachings of Brigham Young: Hard Work, Sacrifice, Obedience”

“Windows of Heaven Open to Obedient”

“Teachings of Harold B. Lee: Obedience Learned Through Suffering”

“Obedience to Law Is Liberty”

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Keep the Commandments

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Church Magazines

Isaias Vargas Chavarria, “Hesitantly Faithful, Abundantly Blessed,” New Era, March 2017

Shanna D’Avila, “The Best Part of the Week,” Friend, February 2017

L. Whitney Clayton, “Obedience Helps Us Be Happy,” Friend, February 2017

Christine Merrill, “Double Happy,” Friend, February 2017

Carlisa Cramer and Margaret Willden, “What God Wanted for Me,” New Era, February 2017

Christopher Lambe, “‘Let’s Make That Our Motto,’Ensign, December 2016

Julia M. L. Whitehead, “The Hill,” Friend, December 2016

Cindy Lambourne, “We Found True Freedom in Obedience,” Ensign, August 2015

The Savior’s Example of Obedience,” Ensign or Liahona, April 2015

Russell M. Nelson, “Why is being obedient so important?Friend, April 2015

Lauren Bangerter Wilde, “The Purifying Path of Obedience, Sacrifice, and Consecration,” Ensign, March 2015

The Attributes of Jesus Christ: Obedient Son,” Ensign or Liahona, January 2015

The Savior’s Example of Obedience,” New Era, October 2014

Real Obedience Is More Than Just Not Sinning,” New Era, September 2014

Feeling the Love of the Lord through Obedience,” Ensign or Liahona, March 2004

Ralph W. Hardy Jr., “Naaman and Gehazi: A Contrast in Obedience,” Ensign, August 2002

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In the News

Obedience Is Greater Than Sacrifice, Elder Hales Tells New Mission Presidents,” Church News

Devotional Speaker Teaches Freedom through Obedience to God,” Church News

Fundamental Premises of Our Faith—Talk Given by Elder Dallin H. Oaks at Harvard Law School,” Newsroom

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Obedience,” Lesson Helps for Teaching Children

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