Extremely few professed Christians have actually submitted to God. All Christians say they believe in God, but those who submit to him don’t just say they believe in him1—they actually do his will.2 God’s purpose is aligned with God’s will. Most Christians will seek God’s will when they want something from him, but to really submit to God means to seek his will above your own3 and prefer to do his will even when—and especially if—it differs from your own.4
Some will only obey God when compelled by guilt, public shame, or dire consequences. If you only seek to do God’s will when he forcefully corrects you, you have not submitted to him.5 Those who fear God will actively seek his will in all things, not just to do the minimum required to avoid his punishment.
You can find Christians who say they keep God’s commandments, but you can superficially keep the rules you think God has given you without submitting to him in heart.6 You can go through the motions of obedience without adopting and submitting to the purpose. You can keep the letter of the law without thinking whatsoever about the spirit of it. Submission to God requires seeking, learning, and doing his will in all situations,7 not just those for which you have rules.8 Submission is an inward, consummate aligning of one’s will with God’s. Outward obedience to rules is superficial and lacking in motive, coverage, and direction.
Obedience to superficial practices is not the same as submission to God. You can pay lip service to God through the practice of outward commandments without ever paying the deeper, inward sacrifice9 of turning your desires towards him.10 What only looks holy on the outside will never make you actually holy on the inside.11
All inward character improvements will also lead to outward, visible improvements. However, the same is not true in reverse. Surface-level improvements based on specific instructions don’t need to and typically won’t change underlying character.
No amount of outward change can upgrade someone’s motive.12 While obeying God’s outward commandments can serve to teach you more about his motive and increase the reasons you have to trust him, no amount of outward obedience will change your heart. Only you can change what you desire, and you can’t do that in indirect ways. Changing your desires requires your intentional choice.
Footnotes
- 1. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say? (Luke 6:46) ↩
- 2. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (Matthew 7:21) ↩
- 3. But which of you, having a servant plowing or feeding cattle, will say unto him by and by, when he is come from the field, Go and sit down to meat? And will not rather say unto him, Make ready wherewith I may sup, and gird thyself, and serve me, till I have eaten and drunken; and afterward thou shalt eat and drink? (Luke 17:7-8) ↩
- 4. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. (Matthew 6:33) ↩
- 5. Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools. (Proverbs 19:29) A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool’s back. (Proverbs 26:3) ↩
- 6. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. (Matthew 23:23) ↩
- 7. But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul. (2 Nephi 32:9) ↩
- 8. For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward. (D&C 58:26) ↩
- 9. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit. (Psalms 34:18) ↩
- 10. This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. (Matthew 15:8) ↩
- 11. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. (Matthew 23:25-26) ↩
- 12. For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, or prayeth unto God, except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing. (Moroni 7:6) ↩