Scripture Reading: John 14:15-18
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”—John 14:15
Have you ever heard or said the phrase, “If you love me, you would…”? Typically, the phrase is an attempt to coerce or cajole someone to follow a particular course of action as proof of their love. It makes love contingent on following conditions and frankly, most people are uncomfortable with love based on conditions. That’s understandable. While there are instances where the conditions are for the good (“If you love me, you would stop smoking”) conditional love can lead us down dangerous paths.
Here, Jesus lays out a condition for proving our love for Him. If we truly love Jesus the way we claim to love Him, we would do as He commands. What does that mean? Obeying the Ten Commandments. Loving our enemies, doing good those who mistreat us, and blessing those who curse us. Forgiving those who misuse us. Living in the light instead of darkness. It is all summed up in two commandments: Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving others as we are to love ourselves. Those are high expectations.
Jesus is emphasizing a key point here. Love is not a matter of how we talk; it is a matter of how we live. True love is demonstrated in our obedience, which is the same standard God set from the very beginning, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Jesus tells us to obey His commandments to emulate God and Him, as proof of our love for Him, and provide a testimony of our love before others who do not believe. It is the evidence of what Jesus taught, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
Sometimes we will fall short of meeting the conditions of having true love for Jesus; we find ourselves disobedient to His commandments. When we do, it is our joy that Jesus is not like people; He does not make His love for us conditional. Even when we fail to obey or love Him, Jesus’ love for us is everlasting, never-failing and always abundantly available to forgive us and love us into His perfection!
Here, Jesus lays out a condition for proving our love for Him. If we truly love Jesus the way we claim to love Him, we would do as He commands. What does that mean? Obeying the Ten Commandments. Loving our enemies, doing good those who mistreat us, and blessing those who curse us. Forgiving those who misuse us. Living in the light instead of darkness. It is all summed up in two commandments: Loving God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, and loving others as we are to love ourselves. Those are high expectations.
Jesus is emphasizing a key point here. Love is not a matter of how we talk; it is a matter of how we live. True love is demonstrated in our obedience, which is the same standard God set from the very beginning, “Be holy, for I am holy” (1 Peter 1:16). Jesus tells us to obey His commandments to emulate God and Him, as proof of our love for Him, and provide a testimony of our love before others who do not believe. It is the evidence of what Jesus taught, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:35).
Sometimes we will fall short of meeting the conditions of having true love for Jesus; we find ourselves disobedient to His commandments. When we do, it is our joy that Jesus is not like people; He does not make His love for us conditional. Even when we fail to obey or love Him, Jesus’ love for us is everlasting, never-failing and always abundantly available to forgive us and love us into His perfection!
Lesson to Remember: Even when I fall short in loving God, God’s love never falls short in loving me.
“This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.”—2 John 6
