Obedience: The Tangible Proof That You Love God

Introduction

You can pray, sing, worship, raise your hands every Sunday. But if someone drew a curtain over your voice and looked only at your life, would they still be able to see that you love God? William N'GOM, in the third session of 7 to 9 devoted to the characteristics of a disciple, asks this question with no detour: obedience to the Lord is the tangible proof of our love for God. It is not a matter of sensitivity, emotion, or fine words, it is a matter of concrete actions.

After reviewing the two pillars of obedience (the written Word and the voice of the Lord) and the four false reasonings that push a Christian to disobey (excuses, rationalization, diversification, and latent disobedience), the preacher goes further. He invites you to examine whether your mouth and your life truly line up before God.

Article Outline

1. Love Is Proven by Actions, Not by Words

A man can tell his wife over and over that he loves her. There comes a time when she wants to see the proof. She wants to see that "I love you" translate into everyday actions she can recognize and confirm. The same is true with God. That is why Jesus says in Matthew 7:21: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven."

If you call Jesus "Lord" without obeying him, you are speaking a title with no substance. "You obey the one you love," William N'GOM points out. Love is not a theory, it is a practice. And one of the practical acts that proves you love God is your obedience.

2. Obeying God, Yes, But in God's Way

There is an important nuance many Christians miss. Obeying is not just doing what God asks, it is doing it the way he wants you to do it.

The preacher gives a simple example: God asks you to go see a brother and ask his forgiveness. You go see him and say, "If I did anything to you, sorry." You dodged. You turned the thing to your own advantage. You did not obey in God's way. Often, God puts us in positions where we must show humility, and we look for workarounds. But God does not stop at whether you obeyed, he also looks at how you obeyed.

3. Obedience, the Christian's Body Language

The preacher borrows a vivid image. Body language is what accompanies speech (posture, gestures, attitude). It confirms or contradicts what the mouth says. For the Christian, obedience is that body language. You can say "I love God" with your mouth, but if your life contradicts your words, something is not working.

That is why God does not stop at what we say. He watches how we do the things he asks of us, because that completes what our mouth pronounces. Beloved, you can worship, you can pray, you can sing. But it is in the moment of doing, in the moment of obeying, that we truly see whether your love for God is real.

4. Abraham, a Model of Obedience Without Argument

When God asks Abraham to sacrifice Isaac (Genesis 22), he does not hesitate. He does not ask the questions you or I would have asked: "Why did you give me this child if you're going to take him back?", "What will people think after all the celebrations I threw?" He obeys. You and I would have activated the false reasonings to dodge God's command.

Abraham does what completes what he believes about God. His actions match what he feels. And because God sees these actions that demonstrate his love, he responds by providing an alternative (the ram). The apostle John writes in 1 John 3:18: "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth." William N'GOM emphasizes the word "truth," which completes actions, because there are actions full of falseness, of secrecy, of concealment. "Sin dresses up piously," he says, quoting a line from Christian rap that struck him.

5. Obedience Triggers a Connection With the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit

Jesus declares in John 14:21: "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him." In 2026, this revelation comes through the Holy Spirit. When you obey, you are in a divine connection with the Trinity, you are linked to the fullness of God.

Abraham did not pray a great deal. The preacher points out that we do not see him holding prayer vigils. But his obedience created an encrypted, secured line with God. His prayers flowed easily because the connection was already established. You have the Father, you have the Son, you have the Holy Spirit. What more do you need?

6. Satan Fears Your Obedience More Than Your Prayers

"Satan does not fear our prayers. Satan fears our obedience to God." This sentence from William N'GOM deserves a second read. Obedience to God is a transfer of power. You transfer power from Satan to God over your life. When you are obedient to the Lord, the enemy has no power over your life.

The image of the gauge (with God on the right and Satan on the left, and you in the middle) illustrates this reality. When you obey, the needle tilts toward God. When you disobey, it tilts toward the enemy. Your life is steered by whoever your needle points to. The goal is for your needle to stay firmly on God's side, without wavering, and to keep moving further in that direction.

7. Disobedience Has Consequences

We forget this too quickly. "Repent and come back," people say, as if everything erases itself automatically. But disobedience introduces into the calendar of your life events that God had not planned for you. There are consequences you have to live with.

Disobedience dries up your prayer life. You pray, and pray, and pray, but your problem is not a prayer problem, it is an obedience problem. It also opens the door to other spirits, starting with concealment and lying. This is what Adam did when he blamed the woman God had placed beside him (Genesis 3:12). As soon as disobedience happens, lying is already knocking at the door. And if you embrace the lie, everything follows: shame, fear, judgment, all designed to keep you from ever coming back.

8. The Fear of Losing Control

Many resist obedience because they are afraid of losing control over their own life. The world has presented obedience as a weakness and projects a different image: be the master of your own life, chart your own course. We come to church already shaped by this and we sing "shape me, fill me," but when God says "let me take over," we want to keep our hands on the wheel.

Paul, for his part, said: "The Holy Spirit had forbidden me" (Acts 16:6-7). This simple statement shows that he did not have control over his own plans. If God told him "go left," he went left. We sing "I surrender all," but when the Lord tells us to speak to a stranger on a Montreal street, we look for a way out.

9. Do Not Try to Understand Everything

Often, as long as we have not understood the "how" behind the "why," we do not act. But God is unsearchable. Our brains cannot digest what he knows. He does not need our intelligence, he is its source. God is not looking for intelligent people, he is looking for docile hearts, capable of obeying his voice, like a good soldier.

Those who turned the world upside down through the gospel are not the most educated, they are those who had the heart to obey. In a company, when a decision comes down from above, the employee carrying it out does not always understand the strategy. He does not need to understand it, he needs to obey. God has a strategic vision of the gospel far beyond what we see. When the instruction reaches our level, our place is to obey.

10. Also Obey the Servants God Sends

When God commissions his servant to ask you to do something and you disobey, you are not disobeying the servant, you are disobeying God who sent him. As long as the one sent remains within God's will, the instruction he passes on comes from God. This part is sometimes "rough," the preacher admits, but it is biblical.

Key Takeaways

• Concrete obedience is the tangible proof that you love God. Without it, saying "Lord, Lord" remains an empty declaration.
• Obeying is not just doing what God asks, it is doing it his way, without workarounds, with humility.
• Your obedience triggers a living connection with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You already have everything you need.
• Satan fears your obedience more than your long prayers, because obeying God is a transfer of spiritual power.
• Disobedience has real consequences: it dries up prayer, opens the door to lying, and introduces events into your life that God had not planned.

Personal Application

• What specific thing has God spoken to you about recently that you keep putting off? What is holding you back from obeying today?
• When God asks you to do something, do you do it his way, or do you look for a more comfortable workaround?
• Is there a lie or a concealment in your life that began with an act of disobedience? Are you ready to come back into the truth before God?
• Is your prayer life stuck right now? Is it really a prayer problem, or an obedience problem?
• Are you able to obey even when you do not understand what God is doing, like Abraham when he went up the mountain with Isaac?

Verses Cited

• Matthew 7:21-23 . "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven..."
• Genesis 22 . The sacrifice of Isaac.
• 1 John 3:18-19 . "Let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."
• John 14:21 . "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me..."
• Genesis 3:12 . Adam blames the woman.
• Acts 16:6-7 . "The Holy Spirit had forbidden them to speak the word in Asia."
• James 1:21-22 . Receiving the word with meekness and putting it into practice.

FAQ

How do I obey God when I do not understand why he is asking me to do something difficult?

William N'GOM points out that Abraham did not try to understand why God was asking him to sacrifice Isaac. He acted. We often want God to explain the "how" behind the "why" before we obey, but God is unsearchable and has a strategic vision that our intelligence cannot grasp. When the instruction reaches your level, your place is to obey, like a soldier who receives an order from a superior who sees further than he does.

Is disobedience really serious if I repent afterward?

Repentance restores the relationship with God, but disobedience often leaves consequences you have to live with. It can dry up your prayer life, open the door to lying and concealment, and introduce events into your life that God had not planned for you. It is not trivial. This is why it is better to obey right away.

What should I do if my pastor or a spiritual authority asks me for something that costs me?

The preacher points out that God often works through his servants. As long as the one sent remains within God's will, disobeying his instruction amounts to disobeying God himself. This does not mean following blindly (you must discern that the one sent stays within the Word), but humbly recognizing that the pastor carries a weight and a revelation you do not necessarily have.