Obedience to God’s Commandments

Let me first open this topic up with a little video I edited of the apostle Elder Holland speaking of keeping the commandments.

So why do we keep the commandments? What is the main reason why we keep the commandments that God has given us? The answer may be in many different varieties. Some people do it because out of fear. Some others do it just because it is the normal thing that has been asked of them. 

Let us see what the Savior said about keeping the commandments. 
John 14: 15
If ye love me, keep my commandments.

What I believe is that all, if not, most of the reason why we should keep the commandments is because of love. Compare it to when your parents ask you to do something. Why do you do what they said? Are you just afraid of punishment or do you love your parents to do what they ask? It is most likely because you respect them and love.

While I was on my mission, there was this phrase constantly passed around that was, "Obedience brings blessings, exact obedience brings miracles". At the beginning I rejected this because I thought it was stupid. I first tried to be exactly obedient seeking that whatever I do I would get investigators non-stop and lessons. I didn't get what I expected that I didn't realize that I also strengthen my ability to talk to people. 

Gordon B Hinckley said, “The happiness of the Latter-day Saints, the peace of the Latter-day Saints, the progress of the Latter-day Saints, the prosperity of the Latter-day Saints, and the eternal salvation and exaltation of this people lie in walking in obedience to the counsels of … God.”

People may think that obedience is just something secondary. That it is something that we don't have to do all the time. We only have to do it when we feel like it. For those who do say so, let us go to President Joseph F. Smith and what he said. “Obedience is the first law of heaven.” As we see, obedience was the first law in heaven. We need to do our best to obey all the Lord's commandments. When God sees that we are doing our best to keep the commandments, he will bless us in many different ways. It may not always be the way that we think we should be blessed, but he does bless us in many different ways. My hope and prayer is that we all do our best to be obedient to the commandments that God has given us. As we do, we can come closer to God and also become like Jesus Christ.