God's Commandments...drudgery or delight?

Making out a "to-do" list does not motivate you to do it, it only reminds you of what you need to do. The motivation comes from elsewhere.

If there is no motivation, a "to-do" list is drudgery and restrictive. It only produces guilt because it reminds you of what you need to do when you don't have the motivation to do it.

If there is motivation, a "to-do" list is helpful and aids you in being more efficient, moving you faster and closer to what you already desire. It's the desire that drives us, not a to-do list. 

So it is with obedience to God's commandments.

Living according to God's commandments is rewarding and freeing when we are motivated by love, trust, and a desire to honor him.

But they are condemning and only produce guilt when we are not.

The solution? A clearer understanding and view of the love and majesty of God. A greater trust that He loves us without strings and that all his directives are for our good, given in our best interest and out of his relentless love for us.

If we act for any reason other than love and trust in God and a desire to honor him because of his great love for us, we are not acting by grace, in the Spirit, by love (these all go hand-in-hand) but by performance i.e. to earn God's approval versus acting because we already have it.

"By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." - John, a disciple of Christ. 1Jn 5:2-3

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