I’ve come to discover that love is a very difficult concept to grasp at times. How is it that I can love my wife with such intensity; and yet, I have a difficult time transferring that same kind of love to Jesus? I’ve come to learn why this is true in my life; and it comes from a lie about love hidden in my brain.
Jesus praises the Ephesian church for being obedient, but scolds them for not being in love with Him (Rev. 2:1-7). Obedience without love means zip. This coincides with what Jesus said in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will obey My teaching.” We don’t obey Jesus out of obligation, but out of love for Him. We do for Jesus simply because we love being with Him.
Then Jesus seems to contradict Himself a few verses later in John 15:10 when He says, “If you obey My commands, you will remain in My love.” It now seems to be that obedience is primary and love is the by-product. Obey. Grind it out. Just do it. Whatever you want to call it, Jesus now appears to be focusing on doing for Him rather than being in love with Him.
Yet is He? If He is, this is why too many Christians are experiencing bondage, rather than the freedom Christ has given them. They are making the aim of their walk with Jesus about obedience rather than love. Follow the rules and everything will be okay. How satisfying is that kind of life?
It’s not. And I don’t believe that’s the meaning of John 15:10. Both passages start with love and end with obedience. There are times when I have an overwhelming feeling of love for my wife and would do anything for her, including shopping!  And yet there are days when I don’t have that overwhelming feeling of love; yet out of love for her I will still go shopping!
Love is both a feeling and an action based in trust (1 Cor. 13). There are times when I have an overwhelming feeling of love for Jesus, usually when I’m worshiping in music or in meditation on how He’s changed my life, and will do what I do with Him out love for Him. And, there are times when I don’t have that overwhelming sense of love and yet out of love based in trust, I will do what I do with Him out of love for Him.
There is the cycle of addiction: sin-confession-sin; and, there is the cycle of freedom: love-trust-love. I love Jesus; therefore, I trust Him. And there are times it is this love based trust that I will do what I do with Him out of love for Him; regardless of whether or not I feel in love with Him. I trust that living His way is in my best interests to do so. As I trust Him, which is based in love, I will grow closer to Him and further away from my drug of choice, which only makes my love for Him grow and strengthens the cycle of freedom.
John 14:23 and 15:10 are simply Jesus’ way of helping knuckleheads like me to understand how to love Him in a fallen world, which makes it hard to grasp such love.
S“E”t Free Nowww