More, he maintained that his whole life and teaching was precisely the constant response of obedience to his Father's will. As we gain experience in life and in human relationships of a more personal kind, and even those associated with the various professional and business contacts we come to appreciate more readily the wisdom of Jesus' teaching on obedience as the proof of love. Anyone who claims to love a friend or parent of associate will certainly wish to carry out in practice what please the other. He will do so often spontaneously and with pleasure enhanced precisely because it gives satisfaction to the beloved. He will even do so when what is required of him is a source of trouble, even of pain when he knows it is important enough to the one he is attached to.
Experience reveals surprising and hidden potentialities in the act of obedience.
It is made all the more welcome when it costs the other a good deal to carry out some preference or decision that we make. Affection grows deeper when obedience is given from the heart and with the intent to cooperate so as to give assistance or contribute to the happiness and well being of the one obeyed. To learn to obey from the heart, in fact, is to learn to love and to transmit love. Jesus taught this lesson by example as well as by word. He showed it remained the norm he followed even when it meant humiliation, pain and death.