May 10, 2008

If you love Me . . .

We saw Jesus Christ, Superstar last weekend, a musical from the 80's that doesn’t do much justice to the biblical record, but with one of our granddaughters in the play, we had to look for things we could honestly say we enjoyed. The acting was good, and for the most part the difficult music was well sung, and our granddaughter certainly has a natural dramatic flair!

Now and then one of the songs from the play comes to mind. It starts, “I don’t know how to love him . . .” and every time I think of that line, I automatically say, “But that is not true. I do know how to love Him . . .” Then I think of Jesus’ words in John 14:15, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” One way to love Jesus is by simply doing what He says.

However, that song is about the secular idea of love, an emotional love that demonstrates itself through feelings and words. I’m sure Jesus accepts that display of love too, yet I know for myself how unreliable emotions can be. As a new Christian, my emotions toward Jesus fluctuated with every answered or unanswered prayer. Music lifted them up; tough days flattened them out. In any love relationship, emotions are important but hardly reliable. It seems the same when it comes to loving God, so obedience seems a more concrete expression. Even when I don’t feel all warm and enthusiastic, I can still do what He says to show Him that I do love Him.

My devotional reading today talks about how those who love Jesus also will love others who belong to Him. It quotes 1 John 5:1: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves his child as well.

Once I became a Christian, I found it easy to love His people, at least most of the time. God’s children do have a lot in common. God is our Father and since we all know and love Jesus, loving one another should be easy too.

Today’s reading says, “The more that we know of the beauty and blessedness of the Lord of life and glory, the more we shall love His image as we behold it visibly marked in His dear people, and the more we shall cleave to them as being Christ’s with tender affection.”

I think that is true. The closer I am to Jesus and the deeper my relationship with Him, the easier it is to see Him in others and to love them because of it. The author of the devotional says that the more Jesus is revealed to my soul, the more I should “warmly and tenderly fall in love with Him” and those in His family.

He also says the opposite is also true. That is, if my love for God begins to dim, then I will also become lifeless and dead in my affections toward others who are His children, even though this is not supposed to happen. Jesus said in John 13:34-35. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

In these two verses Jesus could not be more direct. He says that loving each other is the mark of true Christianity. If I’m not loving other Christians, then the world has every right to say that I am not His disciple.

As I put these thoughts together, I can see that it is not only important to love others, but to remember that if I’m not interested in seeing other believers, or feel like avoiding a church event, or don’t want to answer the phone when a Christian calls, then I’d better figure out where I’m disobeying God. Since others can use my love for His people as the way to evaluate my relationship with Jesus, then I better use the same criteria.

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