Obligation = because I did this for you, you will do what I want.
It’s holding someone in debt to your goodness. It comes from the Latin word obligare = to bind.
Goodness, with debt attached, is a lie and a manipulative deception of Satan.
Over many years I observed a father destroy his family under the weight of obligation. God used it to show me a hidden spiritual truth.
Power
Every father has immense power over his children; the power to obligate them to be good for him so his image looks good to others; the power to obligate them to serve his agenda because he provides protection, or money, or gifts, or love; the power to obligate you to serve his will by the selfish application of intimidation and fear; the power to obligate you to serve his will by the manipulation of making you feel sad for him if he’s having a selfish mood.
Slavery
In every instance this power is selfish and contaminated unless the chain of obligation to his own father has been broken by being separated to Jesus Christ by faith.
I watched as this man’s children struggled to break free from a bondage they didn’t know had them chained by obligation to their father’s image, because he was chained to the value his own father’s image. Beneath the cover of this fine family lay hate for each other. They silently competed over each other for the father’s favour and thus chained themselves to the obligation of servitude to their father’s will. Eventually, the fake happy family crumbled under its lie of dysfunctionality.
Don’t tell me what to do
Humanity hates being told what to do. Whilst you remain chained to the obligation to keep your parents happy, your inner self will be tormented by having to be obligated to honor your parents, which you want to do and are designed to do, but you crave the freedom to do it without being told you have to. Thus, in your inner hidden confusion, you lie to yourself that you are serving in love, when it’s really chasing favour, and serving your own image, too. You end up being chained to the evil spirit of obligation and trying to make your children do the same for you. Consequently, envy and hate become the roots of your love. You call it love, but it’s really envy and hate masquerading as love, and at a point of correction, you will defy authority with ‘don’t tell me what to do’, and thus your lie will be exposed, and underneath the fakeness will be the envy of anyone who has a higher position of favour.
If you sew it, you will reap it
If you complain about being obligated by others, then you will ignorantly, and automatically, and uncontrollably obligate others to serve your will. The thing that you’re offended by is the thing you blindly practice against others.
That’s exactly what I observed eventually spew out of this fake Christian father. He had a silent mood about being obligated, but couldn’t see that it was him practicing it against others. He obligated others and got offended if they didn’t comply. The pride of his own image blinded him to see himself. He could only see what others weren’t doing for him, and unfortunately it drowned him in his own hatred. He hadn’t separated to God, he had manipulated others to serve him and used Christianity to validate this service so they would serve him, but it was all a lie.
Chained
If you’re chained by obligation to your parent’s will, then you will chain your children under your obligation, too. When you obligate your child to serve your will, you expose your chained servitude to your parents’ will, and at the same time, you ignorantly serve others with the expectation that they will be obligated to serve your will. Thus, when anyone opposes or contradicts your will, especially after you have served them, it causes your selfish spirit to be angry with the injustice, according to your perverted vision. You will either openly rebel against the injustice, or silently surrender to it and exist in a spirit of begrudgingness. Either way, it’s not love, but selfishness parading as love.
Cranky, outwardly or inwardly, about being obligated, just means your serving begrudgingly. It means you’ve never loved God by cutting the chains, and you selfishly obligate others to do your will. You will serve Him on a foundation of envy and hate and label it ‘love’, and create a ‘lie’ to support your fake truth, and no one will be able to tell you otherwise.
Hate
I always wondered why the Word of God uses ‘hate’ in Luke 14:26, to describe separation love. It’s now clear to me.
The greenies hate humanity because it hurts the environment. The vegans hate humanity because it hurts animals. This is the fruit of spite.
But, I hate humanity because it hates my God. It’s not spiteful hatred, but the hatred of their love for evil in spite of my God. I could not have stood at the cross and watched humanity crucify my God just because He wouldn’t comply with their religious dogma. It would have crushed my spirit. Because I love my God, I hate, not spitefully, but painfully, any humanity that hates Him.
Irony
This hate doesn’t stop me loving humanity; it stops me bowing to humanity’s lusts and enticements. God himself hated humanity and destroyed it all with a flood, but loved it so much he sent His Son to die for it. He even sent his Son to hell to preach to those who hadn’t had a chance to hear about Him before the flood (1 Peter 3:19,20); that’s how much He loved humanity. But, He won’t tolerate humanity’s hate of his Father; especially hate that’s expressed by defaming His Father’s commandments.
Consequences
If you call homosexuality, love; if you legalise abortion, divorce, and defacto, ungodly religions, and if you control people to your will, do you naively think God is going to turn a blind eye and bless your evil. Earthquakes, floods, wars, bushfires, economic chaos, the rise of Communism and Islamic State, domestic violence, drugs, climate change and corona virus are the fruit of man’s selfishness, whether he thinks he’s good or bad. But, no one’s facing the warnings, they just blame God and dig further into their own inner strength.
The hatred of man’s evil is the expression of your love for God
I hate humanity for legalising homosexuality in defiance of my God’s instructions. I hate humanity for legalising the murder of unborn babies in defiance of my God’s instructions. I hate humanity for legalising divorce and adulterous defacto relationships against my God’s instructions. I hate humanity for endorsing and supporting demonic religions in defiance to my God’s instructions, John 14:6 … I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but by Me. And, Acts 4:12 … there is no other Name given among men whereby you can be saved.
I hate any humanity that is taught about the true God and then turns their back on Him and goes and serves other gods. But, my hate is driven by my love for Him.
True Serve will always require a price
It’s impossible to serve Jesus Christ whilst you remain obligated to serve your father. You can’t be free to serve God until you break the chains of obligation to your father, and you’ll know it’s chains when you feel the fear of contradicting your father’s selfish will … the fear of what others will think of you; the fear of what the church will say against you; the fear of what your family will say against you; the fear of being wrong; the fear of hurting his feelings; the fear of his aggression. But, fear is just a threat to your image and that’s why it’s also the door to freedom, and until you walk through it you won’t find salvation.
Fear
There is no fear in love, and God is love, so God is on the other side of fear. That’s why fear is a spirit force of Satan to stop you finding God. Bound parents are chained to fear and the spirit behind them will try and chain you to the same fear. They can act like they love God, but if you truly choose Christ, you’ll soon feel the threat of their fear.
Fake
A genuine Christian parent will give you the freedom to serve God without requiring you to love them as well. A fake Christian parent will give you the right to serve God as long as you don’t stop serving them too. The fake parent will dictate over you with fear, and the fake child will seek the value of their parent to boost their selfishness, and gain points over their siblings, and thus be chained to that fear.
Persecution
Hopefully, now you can see that you can never truly serve God until you break the chains of obligation to serve your parents. In most instances, the parent has never broken their chains of obligation to their parents, and they will thus demand, either openly or silently, your servitude to their wishes. When you face the intimidation to stay under a parent’s will, you will experience the honor of being persecuted for the Name of Christ. The Satan trick is, no child expects a Christian parent to be Satan’s defiant and opposing force. You’ll need the faith of Christ to help you get free.
Even Jesus had to tell His mother to back-off because she was interfering in His commitment to the will of His Father, God. He had to tell Peter to back-off because Satan was working through him to entice Christ to not go to the cross.
How do you break free to serve God?
By faith, you have to face the fear of upsetting your parents and trust God. If you’re seeking to serve Him, the demonic will be seeking to scare you from serving Him. The most powerful weapon Satan has to inhibit your service, is a parent. You actually have to hate the evil of their obligation to hold onto you for their selfish value, and if they won’t let you serve God, then there is only one pathway; the pathway of complete separation.
Samuel was free to serve God because Hannah gave him up to God. Thus, Samuel could stay, not attached to Hannah, but connected with her by the love they both shared for God. If the parent won’t allow this to happen, there has to be a leave and cleave, and that’s the price of salvation.
Separation
The church no longer lives by this principle because it needs numbers and money to run its business. Separation is a price that costs everything to walk with Christ (Luke 14:33). It’s easier to believe in grace, because grace just means to the average Christian that you have the free-will to love Christ and the free-will to tolerate sin in others without the legal obligation to be too intense to faithfully submit to his laws. This is a lie of Satan propagated by the church. Have an honest look at Matthew 5:18,19.
If you’re tolerating sin in others, then it just means you obligate them to tolerate the sin in you.
Many called, few will choose
If you genuinely have a call on your heart to serve the living God, know that you won’t be able to fulfil that call until you love your parents by disobeying them if they are blocking that call. This is what God calls ‘hate’. If you feel obligated to serve your parents’ will, then know you are being dictated to by a demonic spirit. The Spirit of God in a Christ-like parent will give you freedom to serve God without obligation. That pull to stay chained to your parent is so strong that God said … many are called but few are chosen.
Myway or Yahweh
Jesus doesn’t obligate; it’s your choice. Love Him and do what He wants because you love Him, or serve Him and do what He wants your way. They’re miles apart. One is free, the other is chained.
Pastor Jonathan Samuels
www.e-preacher.org 