“Wicked men obey from fear; good men, from love.”
Obedience
LDS Quotes on Obedience
Any reluctance to sacrifice whatever God requires will, to that degree, lessen our ability to have faith in God.“But those who have not made this sacrifice to God do not know that the course which they pursue is well pleasing in his sight; for whatever may be their belief or their opinion, it is a matter of doubt and uncertainty in their mind; and where doubt and uncertainty are there faith is not, nor can it be. For doubt and faith do not exist in the same person at the same time; so that persons whose minds are under doubts and fears cannot have unshaken confidence; and where unshaken confidence is not there faith is weak; and where faith is weak the persons will not be able to contend against all the opposition, tribulations, and afflictions which they will have to encounter in order to be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Christ Jesus; and they will grow weary in their minds, and the adversary will have power over them and destroy them.”
| Lectures on Faith, 6:15
“To have faith in Jesus Christ means to have such trust in him that we obey whatever he commands. There is no faith where there is no obedience. Faith comes from hearing the word of God and is a spiritual gift. Faith increases when we not only hear, but act on the word of God as well, in obedience to the truths we have been taught.”
| "Help Thou Mine Unbelief", November 2001, Ensign pg 28
“…we can choose to see commandments as limitations. We may feel at times that God’s laws restrict our personal freedom, take from us our agency, and limit our growth. But as we seek for greater understanding, as we allow our Father to teach us, we will begin to see that His laws are a manifestation of His love for us and obedience to His laws is an expression of our love for Him.”
| "If Ye Love Me, Keep My Commandments,” 2015 General Conference
“Obedience is the first law of heaven. It is an act of faith. You may sometimes be required to do things you do not completely understand. As you obey, you increase in faith, knowledge, wisdom, testimony, protection, and freedom.”
| Preach My Gospel
“The point of the law is love. And while obedience is generally better than disobedience, obedience in itself cannot fulfill the law. Only love can fulfill the law. However, love is a curious end for a law. Normally, the point of a law is to compel obedience, not love. As a result, making love the point of the law introduces a kind of know– a kind of torsion or structural catch 22– into the heart of the law itself because love if compelled, is no longer love. Love that is not freely given is not love. Love, as the end of the law, divides the law against itself. Love hamstrings the law in relation to its own assigned end because the law, working to compel obedience, cannot, in this instance, be fulfilled by way of obedience. It can instead, only be fulfilled by love that the law cannot– and must not– compel. The law must compromise its own integrity in order to achieve its assigned end.”
| Future Mormon
“Parents who fail to teach obedience to their children, if [their] homes do not develop obedience society will demand it and get it. It is therefore better for the home, with its kindliness, sympathy and understanding to train the child in obedience rather than callously to leave him to the brutal and unsympathetic discipline that society will impose if the home has not already fulfilled its obligation.”
| The Responsibility of Parents to Their Children, p. 3.
“Sometimes we find that even when we do our best to serve God, we still suffer. The key is to remember that faith and obedience are still the answers – even when things go wrong, perhaps especially when things go wrong.”
To have faith in Jesus Christ means to have such trust in him that we obey whatever he commands. There is no faith where there is no obedience. Faith comes from hearing the word of God and is a spiritual gift. Faith increases when we not only hear, but act on the word of God as well, in obedience to the truths we have been taught
| “Help Thou Mine Unbelief,” Ensign, Nov 2001, p. 28
“People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, ‘If you keep a lot of rules, I’ll reward you, and if you don’t, I’ll do other things.’ I do not think that this is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice, you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature.”