Pedro, thank you for your comments. Obedience reflected the slavery of the time, which God and Jesus both said should be replaced with equal love. Like surrender, obedience is another word very easily abused by humans, so we should resist the temptation to use such outdated language. We've got a long way to go to repair the grievous harms of slavery (obedience and surrender).
The only way to get to sustainable social peace and justice is for individuals to choose equal love and forgiveness. Pretty sure Jesus would avoid using the language of surrender or obedience or fear today except as a last resort alternative to disobedience for kids or stubborn, but real love and forgiveness must be chosen. In my experience, when loving God then simply choose to do as God asked or suggests (sometimes unanswered or vague). If not preferred for good (not selfish) reason, then may try to negotiate with God as some did in Bible with some success.
Jesus asked us to love God, not surrender. Surrender implies domination rather than choice of love.
Self-sufficiency allows generous love to those unable to be self-sufficient. Not to say our economic systems for self-sufficiency are equal or fair, but laws are fixable, and greed can be taxed. Without people fairly sharing the work burdens of simple sustainable lifestyles, plus emergency backup supplies for water, food, and energy, we would quickly return to a hard and brutal existence and many would perish.
I appreciate what you are saying even though I am the author. I think that we may be using the word surrender differently. Jesus didn't say "surrender" per se. But, in John 14:15 he said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments.". I equate that to surrender. Out of curiosity, do you think that one can obey without surrender? Because a number of times we are told to obey God and warned many times about our choices to obey what distracts us from God's loving Law of Life. In my experience, when I felt the love of God, I surrendered choice.
Pedro, thank you for your comments. Obedience reflected the slavery of the time, which God and Jesus both said should be replaced with equal love. Like surrender, obedience is another word very easily abused by humans, so we should resist the temptation to use such outdated language. We've got a long way to go to repair the grievous harms of slavery (obedience and surrender).
The only way to get to sustainable social peace and justice is for individuals to choose equal love and forgiveness. Pretty sure Jesus would avoid using the language of surrender or obedience or fear today except as a last resort alternative to disobedience for kids or stubborn, but real love and forgiveness must be chosen. In my experience, when loving God then simply choose to do as God asked or suggests (sometimes unanswered or vague). If not preferred for good (not selfish) reason, then may try to negotiate with God as some did in Bible with some success.
Jesus asked us to love God, not surrender. Surrender implies domination rather than choice of love.
Self-sufficiency allows generous love to those unable to be self-sufficient. Not to say our economic systems for self-sufficiency are equal or fair, but laws are fixable, and greed can be taxed. Without people fairly sharing the work burdens of simple sustainable lifestyles, plus emergency backup supplies for water, food, and energy, we would quickly return to a hard and brutal existence and many would perish.
I appreciate what you are saying even though I am the author. I think that we may be using the word surrender differently. Jesus didn't say "surrender" per se. But, in John 14:15 he said, "If you love Me, keep My commandments.". I equate that to surrender. Out of curiosity, do you think that one can obey without surrender? Because a number of times we are told to obey God and warned many times about our choices to obey what distracts us from God's loving Law of Life. In my experience, when I felt the love of God, I surrendered choice.