Truthful lips endure forever,
    but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
—Proverbs 12:19

If obeying God’s commands doesn’t earn us more of His love—if our salvation is already secure by grace—why bother following the rules?

Because obedience lightens the load—not just for us, but more importantly for others.

Take lying, for example. Anyone who’s tried to sustain a lie knows the exhausting mental gymnastics required to keep it going. The stress, the fear of exposure, the relational drift—it’s far more costly than the fleeting benefit. Scripture warns us about secrecy not because God is trying to control us, but because secrets corrode us. They cause us to hide—from others, from God, even from our true selves.

Larry Crabb writes,

“When a man hides, he stops living from his true center. He becomes a performer, not a person.”
(The Silence of Adam)

Obedience isn’t about religious performance—it’s about freedom.

As Jocko Willink puts it:

“If you want freedom in life—financial freedom, more free time, personal independence—you only get there through discipline.”
(Discipline Equals Freedom)

Obedience and discipline create margin—space in our lives where joy, peace, and love can flourish.

That’s the purpose of the Wisdom Literature in Scripture—Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Job (I call Job the “anti-wisdom” book because reminds us things can still fall apart even when we do everything right). These books don’t teach us how to earn God’s favor. They teach us how to live well.

Obedience won’t change your status before God—but it can radically change the quality of your life. It lifts burdens. It restores integrity. It creates margin.

What piece of wisdom from God are you resisting—and what load might it be adding to your life? How is it damaging another person?