Speech on Obedience | Stefan B. Peter | Elocution Competition

Respected Judges,

A warm good morning to you all in the matchless name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

The topic for today is obedience. Isn’t it lovely that the New Testament begins with the story of one man’s obedience. The Bible says: “When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.” The lesson for us is that one man’s obedience can impact history. So it is important for us to obey. This is especially true for us children as Paul wrote in Colossians 3:20, “Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord.”

Now let me point out a few thoughts about obedience.

First of all, obedience can take us through difficulties.

Our supreme example of obedience is that of Jesus Christ who obeyed God to the point of bleeding to death on a cross. The writer of Hebrews says, Jesus learned obedience from what he suffered. It tells us that the path of obedience is not always smooth. It might lead us through difficulties and suffering. But these pressures of life will transform us from an ordinary lump of dark charcoal to a priceless diamond that shines brilliantly.

Secondly, obedience is not about obeying rules but it is about a personal love relationship with Jesus Christ.

In John 14 Jesus said, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Therefore obedience is an outflow of our love relationship with God. We can obey God with joy when we believe that God is good all the time. We can obey God when we believe that God has our highest good in mind when he commands us to do something. Therefore let us obey God because we love him.

Thirdly, obedience is about faith.

Let us look at Abraham, the father of faith. In Hebrews Chapter 11, that great roll call of faith, it is said “By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.” He went because he trusted in God.

Let me conclude by saying that God always warns us when we try to disobey him. If we do not listen we will sink like the great ship Titanic which ignored warnings about icebergs ahead. Let us not be like Prophet Jonah who ran away from God in disobedience; or like King Saul who lost his kingdom due to disobedience; but let us be like Joseph who obeyed God and left his footprints on the sands of time. Amen.

Speech on Obedience | Daniela B. Peter | Elocution Competition