Hebrews 13:17
Obeying authority has never been something that comes easy for me. As a general rule I like to do things the way I like to do them, regardless of what the authority says. God has definitely been working on this but it still isn't easy to submit with the right heart. In this verse we are told to obey in addition to being submissive and the difference between the two words makes all the difference. Obedience is an outward act of doing what you are told, following the rules. Obedience is not a hard thing to do. Submission, on the other hand, is sacrificing what you want long term for the sake of someone else's mission. Obedience is an outward action, submission is an inward heart change. So not only are we told to do what our authority tells us but we are told to do it with the right heart. (Yikes. I am terrible at this.) I always say that when I know the reason behind a rule, it's easier to obey it. The writer of Hebrews tells us exactly why we are to both obey and submit to authority. It is because they too are going to give an account for how they handled the position God gave them. Whether you are the leader or the follower, God is the one who put you there. We are told to obey and submit in a way that our authority can rule with joy and not grief. This is the way that, as christians, we should be obeying authority.
Obeying authority has never been something that comes easy for me. As a general rule I like to do things the way I like to do them, regardless of what the authority says. God has definitely been working on this but it still isn't easy to submit with the right heart. In this verse we are told to obey in addition to being submissive and the difference between the two words makes all the difference. Obedience is an outward act of doing what you are told, following the rules. Obedience is not a hard thing to do. Submission, on the other hand, is sacrificing what you want long term for the sake of someone else's mission. Obedience is an outward action, submission is an inward heart change. So not only are we told to do what our authority tells us but we are told to do it with the right heart. (Yikes. I am terrible at this.) I always say that when I know the reason behind a rule, it's easier to obey it. The writer of Hebrews tells us exactly why we are to both obey and submit to authority. It is because they too are going to give an account for how they handled the position God gave them. Whether you are the leader or the follower, God is the one who put you there. We are told to obey and submit in a way that our authority can rule with joy and not grief. This is the way that, as christians, we should be obeying authority.
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