A Pause to Ponder God's Word
"If You Love Me..."

Most parents have hear their child at one time or another say to them, "if they really loved you would,"and proceed to finish the statement with whatever they were requesting. There are untold numbers of teenagers who have been manipulated into doing something they did not want to do with that very powerful phrase People who would use love in such a manner have a complete lack of understanding of this wonderful gift of God. Yet, as grossly mistaken as they may be, there is one thing they do understand - love is a verb and it is recognized by its actions.

Love has been reduced to mere emotion in our day. We define it with feeling alone. We speak about "falling in love" as if it were some type of hole in the ground. We do so because we base it upon the "feelings" we have toward the one we love. This is why the world so easily describes the sex act as "making love," and song lyrics proclaim, "it can't be wrong, if it feels so right." Love for modern society is nothing more than romantic and sexual urges. (This is not to say that love is devoid of feeling.) We really struggle with knowing how to truly love each other.

This misunderstanding of love not only affects our relationships with each other. It affects our relationship with God. The essence of holiness, is to love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds and strength. How do we do that when we do not understand how to love Him? Too often we end up singing Him love songs which make us feel good. (This is not to suggest that loving God is devoid of feeling.) We sing about "falling in love with Him over and over and over and over again," as if loving God was a romantic encounter with Him. Our loving God is nothing more than a spiritualized worldly love. The lyrics of one of the songs from a rock opera about Jesus states if succinctly: "I don't know how to love Him!"

Jesus comes into the midst of our struggle and dilemma and announces, "If you love me..." He does not say this in the manipulative way we usually hear it. Rather, He teaches us how we are to express our love to Him. Jesus knows that we needed divine instruction on the holy way to express our love. In John 14:15 He clearly and concisely describes that way - "if you love me, you will obey what I command." To be sure that we don't miss the instruction He repeats it - "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one that loves me." (Verse 12, note also verse 23)

Obedience to God's Word and will is our purest expression of love for Him. To sing, shout, or speak love for God is nothing more than "lip service" unless it is back up by obedience. As my father often says, "I don't care how high you jump in church, as long as you live for God when you come down." To feel love for God and not express it, is not to love at all. Our love for God should include deep emotion, which is felt to the very depths of our being. It should be expressed in our worship through song, praise, adoration, and exaltation. But we must be aware that loving God goes well beyond these. At times expressing our love for God through obedience will not bring warm fuzzy feelings. It will bring pain and suffering. "No greater love as any man than to lay down his life for his friends (15:12) Jesus, Love Incarnate, revealed this when He "showed the full extent of His love" for us by dying on the cross. There is no greater love than this!

We have much to learn about loving God and each other. But, we are not left without instruction - "If you love me, you will obey what I have commanded." Beloved, let us love God with all out hearts, all our souls, all our minds, and all our strength and our neighbor as ourselves, by obeying God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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