“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15)  Jesus is speaking to his disciples shortly before his arrest and crucifixion.  He is attempting to prepare them for what is to come and ultimately His departure back into Heaven.

So what is He really saying here?

Is it possible to tell the world how much we love and believe in Jesus, yet, never follow His commandments?  Many would have us believe the answer to this question is yes.  But how can that be so?  For some reason, the world believes we can just say, I believe in Jesus and then go on our merry way and we will be saved!  This is crazy!!

Jesus is not saying we have to keep His commandments to “prove” our love for Him.  He doesn’t need proof; He knows what is in your heart even before you do.

Jesus said “If you love me”

Jesus does not expect us to go down a list of His commandments, checking them off as we complete them.

Jesus said “if you love me, you will keep my commandments”, not because you have to but because you will want to please Him.  We will do what He says because we love Him, not in order to prove anything to Him!

Jesus goes on to say ²³ “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. ²⁴ Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.(John 14:23,24)

If we love Jesus and we demonstrate this by keeping His commandments, God will love us and take us home to Heaven someday.  If we don’t love Him, our actions will be clear evidence of that fact and we will not be included in those saved.

As the say goes, “Actions speak louder than words.”  If we have love for Jesus, we will act in a way that is pleasing to Him.

Your spouse says “If you love me”

Have you ever wondered why we have such a high divorce rate in the world today?  I have an answer for you, taken straight from the words of Jesus.

We all have felt our heart rate go up when that special someone walks into the room.  We just know we are in love and this is the one.  Then two or three years down the road, we become bored with that person because we no longer get that feeling. Why? Because we don’t truly understand what love is!

Love is not a feeling, it is a commitment.  If you love your spouse, you will want to do anything it takes to keep him/her happy and safe.

Be careful not to confuse love and infatuation.  Love lasts; infatuation doesn’t!

If you love me, you will really mean it when you say, “to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, until death do us part.”

Parent’s say “If you love me”

We have a child who always wants to give hugs and kisses and tell us he loves us before going to bed or before someone leaves the house.  This act would be absolutely meaningless, if he didn’t also follow up with his actions.  No child is perfect and most children don’t learn a great deal of selflessness until they are older, but if they truly love their parents, it will be visible in their actions.

As we move into adulthood, we should still show our love for our parents though our actions.  If you love your parents you will want to make them proud.  If you love your parents you will take care of them as they age.

The words Jesus spoke are just as true for us today as they were for His disciples two thousand years ago.

If you love me, it will show!

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