“Obedience does not mean the execution of the orders that are given by a drill sergeant. It springs rather from the love of an order, and love of him who gave it. The merit of obedience is less in the act than in the love; the submission, the devotion, and the service which obedience implies are not born out of servitude, nut are, rather, effects that spring from and are unified by love. Obedience is servility only to those who have not understood the spontaneity of love.” –Fulton J. Sheen
Obedience is always difficult. I remember how much it cost me one time when a superior asked me to do something that I thought would be a waste of 5 minutes a week – I did it grudgingly. Then, a month later, he told me to do it the way I thought more efficient from the beginning.
I though of it as 5 minutes of “wasted” time but if I was obeying Christ, that was 5 minutes “given” to him. I have given up all – my family, a wife, my city, money, etc. – to follow him as a Legionary but giving up what is insignificant in comparison still hurts. If I were obeying a drill sergeant, I couldn’t do it, but I obey the one I love.
