Love, love, love
“If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15
Love, Love, Love. It’s a word that we hear a lot. We say it frequently. We love pizza. We loved that movie. We love those flowers. We use it so much that many times we don’t know what it means. Today I want to talk about love, and see if our definition matches up with what Jesus said.
The first thing that most people think about love is that is an emotion that they feel at certain times and not at others. Emotions are like a roller coaster they go up and down constantly, but true love never leaves or goes down. It remains the same no matter the situation. Let me give you an example of what I mean. “But Jesus was saying, Father forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing.” John 23:34
Jesus Christ was on the cross; He was in the midst of agony and torment, yet in the middle of His pain He prayed. Not for Himself, but for those who were crucifying Him.
Listen to the words of Jesus; Matthew 5:43-44, “You have heard that it was said you shall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those that persecute you.” WHAT! How are we supposed to love our enemies, and why should we pray for people that persecute us. Well, we love our enemies because Jesus told us to, and when we cannot love people on our own then He will give us the strength to do it. Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” And we pray for people that persecute us because Jesus told us, and because when they see our Godly behavior we may just bring then into the light. I Corinthians 9:22, “To the weak I became weak; that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, that I may by all means save some.”
Love the kind of love that Christ showed on the cross, and the type of love that we are commanded, by Him, to have stops at nothing to finish the job. We must do whatever it takes to love our fellow man because God did not hesitate to show us His love!
Love is a decision. I know that in today’s society we use the heart as the symbol of love, but I believe if we are going to use any human organ to symbolize true love it should be the brain because until we understand that love is a decision and a sacrifice we cannot feel true love.
Love is not just something we say; it’s something that we do. Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” We see here that love does begin in our hearts, or emotions, but love must move past our hearts into our entire being and consume us wholly; from their love must become an action if it is ever going to become anything more than “baby love”.
Let’s look at a few verses that demonstrate the actions that love requires. John 14:21 says, “He who has My commandments and keeps them; he it is who loves Me…” You cannot love God while you do you own thing. Do you remember what Jesus told His parents’ when they lost Him. He said in Luke 2:49, “Why is it that you were looking for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s House?” (emphasis mine) Jesus had to be in His Father’s House, or the King James Version of the Bible translates that verse, “…I must be about My Father’s business?” Jesus loved God, Jesus was God, and He knew and gave the example that when we love someone, truly love them, then their business becomes our business, and our heart’s desire is to see the will of that person, or object of our love, finished. And what is the will of God, it can be found in II Peter 3:9, “…not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.” God’s will is to spread His salvation to all men and women. So, the next time someone asks you if you love God instead of giving them a yes or no answer; tell them what you are doing to help show His love and spread His salvation. That is the true answer!!!
I would like to ask one simple question, “If you were arrested for being a Christian is there enough evidence of Jesus being in your life to convict you?”
“If you love me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15
————————————————————
Father, I thank You for loving me even when I was unlovable, and I ask that You would me demonstrate Your love to all people, even, and especially, the people that I don’t like. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
————————————————————
The above image can be found at:
Yes, You Can Ministry 