See, I am setting before you today a blessing and a curse—
the blessing if you obey the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today;
the curse if you disobey the commands of the Lord your God and turn from the way that I command you today by following other gods, which you have not known.
But Samuel replied:
“Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
To obey is better than sacrifice,
and to heed is better than the fat of rams.
If only you had paid attention to my commands,
your peace would have been like a river,
your well-being like the waves of the sea.
but I gave them this command: Obey me, and I will be your God and you will be my people. Walk in obedience to all I command you, that it may go well with you.
“If you love me, keep my commands.
Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!
We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.
Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:
Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.