What can I do to reinforce obedience and keep myself from disobedience?

Mark 6:7He [Jesus] called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by two.

Galatians 6:1-2Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.

Jesus created accountability by sending his disciples out in pairs. This is a wise practice to model. We can encourage and establish relationships with others who will challenge us to maintain our standards and agree to keep a check on our conduct.

Psalm 51:10-12Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me. Do not banish me from your presence, and don’t take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Matthew 6:24“No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to money.”

Matthew 10:37-39“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.”

Matthew 22:37-40Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”

John 14:15“If you love me, obey my commandments.”

Philippians 3:7-8I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.

1 John 2:15-16Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.

1 John 4:19-21We love each other because he loved us first. If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.

Love ought to motivate our obedience. If we love God, we will desire to honor him, to please him, and to become more like him. That love will spill over into our interactions with others, for how can we love God without loving his children as well? The greatest barrier to loving and obeying God is loving something else more. It may be an attachment to a habitual sin, it may be a desire for wealth, it may be a longing for fame or prestige or even a relationship. When something else takes priority over our relationship with God, we begin treating God like a distraction or a chore, and obedience becomes a drudgery rather than a joy. If we feel joyless and distracted in our relationship with God, the first thing we should do is pray. Pray that God will fill our hearts with an overflowing love for him.