September 8, 2023
True Love For God
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15 (NASB)
I was saved at age 18, but did not understand God’s commandments. I did not read the Bible until I was about 28 years old. When I finally came back to church, my understanding changed from what I knew in the past (which was practically nothing). Before, I understood God’s commandments as marching orders for Christians. You obeyed them. To violate them brought forth God’s judgment. Several years later while studying the Bible, my perspective changed. I began to see God differently than before. I began to see God as a relationship. I still see many Christians today struggle with the same thing I did. They live as one under rule and reign. As I learned more about my relationship, I discovered that I viewed God as a judge. He was there to punish me for everything I did wrong. I view now God as a precious relationship. I seek to please Him, not myself. I don’t do it every day well, but I strive to do so. This is what the Bible calls “true love.” I don’t want to hurt the relationship. I love Jesus. My attitude has become one whose focus is not on rules, but keeping the relationship pure. In loving Him I fulfill His commands. This is what Jesus was saying in this verse to His disciples.
“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” “... now the second section emphasizes the response of love (cf. vv. 15, 21, 23–4, 28). To love Jesus is shown to involve keeping his words or commands. Here the focus is on the latter—If you love me, you will keep my commandments. A response of love for Jesus will result in obedience to his commands and at the same time that obedience will be an indicator of whether genuine love is present.”[1] The word “love” is the word, agapaō; to love: —beloved, felt a love for.[2] This may sound basic, but the meaning is much deeper when you see it below the surface. “To love God is to have pleasure in Him and to strive impulsively after Him. Those who love God are pious whose life of faith bears the stamp of originality and genuineness and who seek God for His own sake.”[3] Thislove for Christ changes us from self-centeredness to Jesus-centeredness.
As I finished mowing the yard the other day, I looked and thought, “It looks nice now. I hope my wife sees it and it makes her happy.” Sometimes I take her outside and show her what I did in the yard. Then at other times, I tell her “Did I ever tell you I hate cutting grass?” The answer is, “Yes honey. You tell me that all the time.” I respond, “I wasn’t sure if I told you that before...” I do it because it is something less, she has to worry about. I do it because I love her. It is an expression of my love for her. You see it is easy to make sacrifices when we care for those in our life. We don’t view it as work (except for the yard), but as things we do for those we love. These things are not laborious but show my genuine love and care. This is how I show her my love in one capacity. It is not always easy, but exciting to do at times. Sometimes they are difficult, but I do them to please Jesus. Doing things for Jesus, like keeping His commands is not hard when you truly love Him. If we love Jesus, we don’t mind pleasing Him. Doing things for Jesus is not like work. They are a joy when you serve the One you love.
[1] Lincoln, A. T. (2005). The Gospel according to Saint John (p. 393). Continuum.
[2] Thomas, R. L. (1998). In New American Standard Hebrew-Aramaic and Greek dictionaries : updated edition. Foundation Publications, Inc.
[3] Quell, G., & Stauffer, E. (1964–). ἀγαπάω, ἀγάπη, ἀγαπητός. In G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley, & G. Friedrich (Eds.), Theological dictionary of the New Testament (electronic ed., Vol. 1, p. 28). Eerdmans.