|
How do we love God ?
Jesus said "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." (John 14v21) What a promise friends!
Ok well what does love mean? If we limit ourselves just for now with the Greek, there are three main words for love - philo, eros and agape. Philo refers to brotherly love and is the root for words such as philanthropist or Philadelphia, one who delights in acts of kindness or brotherly love. Eros obviously refers to the particular love reserved for a man and woman that are married.
Agape though is the greatest love, which Jesus spoke of clearly concerning Himself towards us, even when we were in our wretched, unrepentant states!
"This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you." (John 15v13-15)
Fair enough! So if we love Him we will obey His commandments. How do we obey His commandments and which commandments does Jesus want us to obey? I wish more people would take this question seriously!
The scribes and finally a Sadducee lawyer asked Jesus a question trying to test him!
'36 Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law? 37 Jesus said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets." (Matt 22v36-40)
Notice in the ten commandments found in Exodus 20 & Deuteronomy 5 the first four relate to loving God and the latter six relate to loving your neighbour!Furthermore verse 37 above is quoting Deuteronomy 6v5 and verse 39 is a recital of Leviticus 19v18!
How do we love His followers also? John writes...
'Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.' (1 John 5v1-3)
Finally if we love Him, what is the test of knowing Him?
'Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He who says, "I know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him.' (1 John 2v3-4)
But it's not just about rules its about relationship I hear the sceptic whimper! Really? If we obey Him by obeying His commandments out of love, of which His commandments are not burdensome anyway, then maybe our relationship might actually deepen and we may know Him and strive to imitate His character instead of opting out of obedience! If we don't want to obey His commandments maybe we love ourselves more than Him? The amazing truth is that He always knows us better than we know ourselves, so our acts of obedience through faith in Him will please him and benefit us also anyway, so we might as well start taking full hearted pleasure in obeying His commandments because we love Him! Why? Because He first loved us! Yes even when we were poor, miserable, wretched and impoverished, children of wrath and incapable and doing anything more purposeful for Him than being confined in our sinful states!
Greater love has no man than this!...
Amen! |
