LOVE LEADS TO OBEDIENCE

Jesus said that when we love Him, we will obey Him (John 14:15), and the apostle John writes that love for God consists of our obedience to Him (2 John 1:6). I like to say that the level of our obedience to Jesus deter-mines the level of our love for Him. I believe our love for Him and obedience to Him can grow - and they do. Everything in our relationship with God after initial salvation is a process. Do not be disappointed with yourself if you are still in the process. Jesus will not be angry when He comes to get you if you have not arrived at the mark of perfection, but He does expect to find all of us pressing on. The commandment we should strive to obey throughout our lives is to WALK IN LOVE. Our lives and behaviour will change dramatically if all of our thoughts, words, and actions are guided by love! They are to be guided by our love for God, ourselves, and others. God's Word teaches us to love everyone, including ourselves. I like to say, "Do not be in love with yourself, but love yourself in a balanced way." If you refuse to love yourself, then you are not receiving the gift God wants to give you. We cannot deserve God's love. It comes to us unconditionally. God loves us first, and He pours His love into us so we can love Him, ourselves, and others. He does not expect us to give away any-thing we do not have. Sometimes we make being a Christian very difficult and complicated. We think we must follow hundreds of rules and do multitudes of things, but Jesus said that if we simply walk in love, that is enough (John 15:12). The reason for this is that if we concentrate on love, all the other things He asks us to do will also get done. Love motivates us to obey God, pray, be kind and merciful, give, forgive, repent, and practice other aspects of our Christian faith. Let me encourage you to study love. Read everything you can about love. Think about it, talk about it, and practice it! God is love and when love is the theme of our lives, HE is the theme also. [THE EVERYDAY LIFE BIBLE, The Amplified Bible, Notes and Com-mentary by Joyce Meyer, Faith Words, New York, 2006].