John 13: 17
You know these things--now do them! That is the path of blessing.
We have been taught how to do right. Our parents all did their best to teach us the right way in life. God has given us His Word to teach us what is right. We have pastors in our churches who endeavor to teach us the right way to live. Every person wants to live in a way that would be right for them.
But we all have been born with a defective soul and a dead spirit. Our own hearts lie to us and deceive us. So sometimes we can be mislead, and believe that what is actually wrong is right for us. But it is not healthy, or moral, or helpful at all.
God's ways are not our ways, because He is absolutely pure and holy, and we do not understand these concepts naturally, without His help. That's why He gave us His written Word. That's why He sent His only Son, to fulfill all the prophesies about Him and all the Laws that point to what He would accomplish. So He became our personal Sacrifice, fulfilling that requirement from Leviticus chapter 1. And He fulfilled all the letter of all the laws God had His people follow. Now He has written His Law in our hearts, so we can understand the principles underlying all those Laws; we not only do not sleep with our neighbor's spouse (the letter of the law), we do not even entertain the thought of doing so. We not only do not murder, we do not refuse to forgive, letting ourselves off the hook of hatred and resentment. And so for all the Laws.
So with Jesus having taken our place in death, and God having given us New Life in His own Holy Spirit, healing our soul and making our spirit alive; now we have the ability to understand God's ways, how they are not the World's ways, and the strength to obey them, to actually do them in our thoughts, attitudes and actions. God does not tell us to be "perfect" (mature), then leave us hanging, unable to live it out. His Holy Spirit speaks into our spirit, in His still, small voice, that we perceive as an inward "knowing," showing us the right way to go. He has given us His written Word, and His Spirit teaches us as we open our understanding to what He has written actually means for us.
When Jesus said this (scripture above), He had been teaching His disciples for over three years. Now He is telling them that only by putting these ideas into practice in their daily lives will they enjoy the blessings of God's favor.
Only by putting these principles into practice in our thinking processes, our attitudes and our actions every day will we experience God's favor and His blessings in our health, our finances and our relationships.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
