By Danny Duarte
It’s no doubt that Jesus said in John 14:15– If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And also shared in Matthew 22:37-38 the first and greatest commandments, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
My first response to the question on what does it mean to love Jesus was focused on the living and doing. Being busy with action and serving…but this just didn’t sit right with me. I stopped and prayed and asked the Holy Spirit what does it mean to you to Love Jesus. What is does it mean for us to Love Jesus. Then this part of the verse stood out….Jesus said “if you love me” before he said you will keep my commandments…
So what does this really mean? Do I love Jesus? What does it look like?
When you’re married you don’t love your spouse by just performing, doing what they ask, nor giving them gifts. You cherish them and value them alone, with their weaknesses, strengths, etc. They are important to you and you would give the world for them. Often times when giving gifts I am convicted by the Lord, as He reminds me that it’s not in gifts that express love as much as expressing it through a desire to know them and treasure them. Then practically when I know my spouse, it is much a desire to be in their presence and to serve them out of love.
Well, to Love Jesus, is the same and should be at greater plane than another relationship we have. Jesus should be the greatest treasure and the better treasure. Then I can be like David who said in Psalm 42, “As a deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Or like Paul in Philippians 3, who said, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”
To arrive desiring His presence as David did and to find ourselves with a desire to lose everything for sake of knowing Christ is a process in our journey of faith. With our time in the word and the help from the Holy Spirit, He will draw us to a closer, intimate relationship that goes beyond words. The experience is a perpetual process of seeking Him and allowing Him the freedom to have my heart.
So one important question that remains is – how do I get there – how do I get place where I experience I Love Jesus. The easiest way is to simply return back and reflect on His love for you personally. It is when we realize what He has done on the cross for us individually that makes the biggest difference. It’s personal, it’s powerful, and it’s purposeful. To understand that He loves you deeply; that His love has no beginning no end; that His love never changes; that His love is constantly pursuing us. It is here – in the quietness of your heart and mind….where my heart is captured by His love. I don’t deserve this kind of love when I observe how fickle my heart is and how I am so prone to wander from this love. I don’t deserve this love when I look at my hard-heartedness; ungratefulness and pride. O’ but the power of His Spirit to melt my heart of stone, to break me to the core of all that I am so I realize that it is only HIM that completes me and that satisfies me. Then I know I can do nothing apart from you and I don’t want to even depart from His presence. Although I may not fully understand the vastness of his love. He allows us to understand a bit of the depth of his love….the depth of His grace….the depths of His everlasting kindness towards you. “O’ how reluctant is the grace of God to give up the struggle for man’s soul (Alan Redpath).”
He wants you to experience this closeness. He wants you to experience His great love in this manner. Then we will understand it’s a relationship not religion. I don’t have to prove myself or always be successful because I know He is gracious. I can acknowledge that God is good, so I don’t have to look elsewhere to be satisfied. I can be satisfied in Christ alone. I can understand that as God is great, so I don’t I have to struggle to be in control. I can have a real peace and rest in His steadfastness in the midst of chaos or life not making sense. I can be relieved from the fear of what people think because I know He is glorious. I don’t have to perform to have others approval, my confidence can simply come from knowing I am His kid and He loves me just as I am.
So, I am not sure where you find yourself today. When was the last time you asked yourself do I love you GOD? Have you ever thought, “How does this look in my life?” Do you rest in His love for you? You don’t have to strive to win His love; you don’t have to prove that you love Him because when your heart is captured by Him what we do would be acts of love. Do you love Jesus? Do you say you love Him because of all that I do shows that I love Him? Or can you say Lord I love… for there is no one like you, no not one. Know that He loves you deeply because you are His. Continue to cultivating your relationship with Him. Be sensitive to the convictions He places on my heart. Let this love be the compass of your heart issues and outlook of life.
Danny is a faithful volunteer at PBC, regular serving alongside his wife, Kelli, to teach kids about Jesus.
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