Love is the desire to hold dear. It is not enough to utter the words “I love you!” In addition to comments, love has to be demonstrated. Recently, I experienced the kind of love I’m referring to. A few months ago, my personal care physician recommended I see a specialist out of state. A friend offered to drive me to the out-of-state appointment without me asking or considering asking. Only love would make a person make that kind of an offer; that offer demonstrated that she loves and cares about my well-being.
Less than a month ago, I told a friend I would be traveling; right away, without me asking, she offered to give me a ride to the airport, which she did. When she dropped me off, she offered to pick me up on my return, and she did. Both friends demonstrated their love for me in practical ways. Only love would make people go to that length.
God has proven how deeply He loves us by sending His One and only Son, Jesus, to die in our place for our sins, thus affording us eternal life (see John 3:16). There’s something about genuine love that naturally, once experienced, seeks to reciprocate in appreciation. But although we might desire to return God’s love, that’s not the only reason to love Him; Jesus commands us to love Him and to demonstrate that love in tangible ways— by obeying His Word. This is clear in the following verses:
“If you love me, obey my commandments” (John 14:15).
“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:21).
“All who love me will do what I say. ... Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me” (John 14:23-24).
“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love” (John 15:10).
“Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome” (1 John 5:3).
“Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them” (1 John 3:24).
Jesus is not asking us to do something He wouldn’t do. His Father loved Him, and He obeyed Him even when it hurt. At both His baptism and His transfiguration, God announced His love for the Son (see Mark 1:11; 9:7).
In John 5:30, Jesus clarifies that He does only what God wants: “Therefore, … I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.”
When Jesus was distressed in the garden of Gethsemane over His pending death, He prayed, “My Father! If it is possible, let this cup of suffering be taken away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Matthew 26:39).
In other words, as painful a death as Jesus would endure, He obeyed the Father’s will to die for you, me, and the whole world. It was a choice He made to honor the Father who loved Him so much.
How about you and me? We claim we love God, but do we obey Him when it is inconvenient or causes pain? Remember that obeying Him will never cost us more than it cost Him to save us. His promise for our obedience is that we’ll remain in His love.
The hymnist puts it well: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.” Let’s demonstrate our love for Him through obedience.
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