“I am really trying to obey what the Bible says about this…but it’s so hard!” I heard someone say recently. And, even though the specifics of the situation were unique to this person, I related to her overall struggle. It is hard to faithfully live out the Word of God!
In my own life, there have been days where I’ve read Scripture in the morning and then failed to remember—much less obey it—in the afternoon.
Just like so many other well-intending Christians, I have tried to obey God in my own strength and then watched as my self-effort fell spectacularly short.
But thankfully, in John 14:23-26 Jesus shows us an alternative to such self-effort. And this alternative is a far more effective way to live the Christian life. Speaking to one of his disciples, He said, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word…He who doesn’t love me doesn’t keep my words. The word which you hear isn’t mine, but the Father’s who sent me. I have said these things to you while still living with you. But the Counsellor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”
Jesus’ words here remind us that “trying harder” is never the key to obedience as a Christian—the Holy Spirit is. And practically, this means two things for us:
ONE. Instead of trying harder to remember God’s law, we simply need to listen closer to the Holy Spirit.
In verse 26, Jesus said, “the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things, and will remind you of all that I said to you.”
For those of us who sometimes read Scripture in the morning only to forget it by the afternoon, this is an encouraging truth.
We may be forgetful and distracted, but Jesus has promised that the Holy Spirit will remind us of God’s Words exactly when we need them. This means we don’t have to go through life wracking our brains, trying to make sure we don’t forget a Scripture and accidentally sin. Instead, we only need to stay open to the Spirit’s still small voice. First, He will help us read and understand the Scriptures for ourselves. And second, He will bring those Scriptures back to us when we need to apply them.
The Holy Spirit is our Teacher and our ultimate Reminder. He speaks God’s Words to us every day—the question is: are we listening?
You know, sometimes I think the Spirit is speaking to me as I’m out and about, only I don’t notice because I’m either talking over Him or I’m letting the noise of this world drown Him out. But reading this passage has renewed my desire to hear His voice over all the others.
So, what steps can we practically take to ensure we hear the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us?
First, we can always be in prayer. As we go about our days, we can stay in dialogue with the Lord, inviting Him to speak into our lives. Personally, I’ve found that the more I ask God to speak to me, the more I tend to be aware that He actually does.
Second, it also helps to create pockets of silence in our busy, buzzing days. I don’t know about you, but I am constantly listening to something in my downtime—music, podcasts, or even movies playing in the background. And while those things are great, I wonder what better things I might hear if I occasionally muted them. What might the Spirit speak to me? Ultimately, we know that God can speak to us no matter how noisy our environment, but quieting ourselves before Him can open the door for more meaningful conversations.
Third, we can get familiar with Scripture. This will enable us to discern if the voice we’re listening to is the Holy Spirit’s or some other competing voice, like that of our own desires. A wonderful rule of thumb is that the Holy Spirit will never speak anything to us that runs counter to Scripture. This very passage tells us that the Holy Spirit will remind us of Jesus’ Words, which are the very words of God. So, the more we know Scripture, the more He can help us remember and recognize God’s message for our lives.
Fourth, we can keep the lines of communication clear. I remember a season, long ago, when I ignored the Spirit’s clear conviction because I wanted to keep doing the things I wanted. Slowly but surely, it became harder for me to hear God speak to me. My sin was getting in the way. Here is the takeaway: if we want to keep on hearing the Spirit speak to us, we need to respond rightly when He does speak. When He speaks conviction to us, that right response simply looks like repentance—changing direction because He says we’re going the wrong way.
Of course, living out this kind of course correction is harder than it seems. It’s why we need to also understand our second point.
TWO. Instead of trying harder to obey, we are called to lean harder on the Holy Spirit.
In verse 26, Jesus introduces another name for the Holy Spirit. The translation I’m using renders it Counselor, but at its core, this name means Helper. The Holy Spirit is not only our Teacher, He is also the One who comes alongside and enables us to obey God.
One major way He does this is through giving us love for the Lord. You know, Jesus did say that “if a man loves me, he will keep my word.”
When we love God, we actually want to obey Him. And the Holy Spirit ensures we have that love and desire welling up within us. What’s more, He helps us to actually follow through on that desire. He is that One who enables us to both “will and do” God’s good pleasure! (Phil. 2:13)
When God calls us to do something, He isn’t asking us to muster up our strength and get it done. He’s inviting us to lean on Him and watch Him do it through us.
Often, our part in obedience simply looks like acknowledging our inability and asking for His help as we step out in faith.
- So, in what area of life can you relate to the sentiment, ““I’m trying to obey…but it’s so hard”?
- And how might you trade trying for listening and leaning today?
Obeying God is an important part of walking out our Christian faith. But it’s not all up to us. Jesus has provided His Spirit to make it possible, in spite of our weakness.
May today be a day of listening closer and leaning harder.
This devotion is based on one of the Scriptures from my 2025 reading plan: “A Year in the Gospels” To receive a copy of the reading plan (and future reading plans), sign up for the email list below. Hope you’ll follow along! You can also learn more about my Scripture over Screentime experiment here.
Written by Paige K. Burhans
©2025 Paige K. Burhans
Scriptures taken from the World English Bible British Edition. Public Domain.
