Where this command is found:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
A lawyer came to Jesus one day and asked Him what the greatest commandment in the Law was. When this question came the crowd likely fell silent, eager with intense anticipation to hear what answer Jesus would give. Jesus responded to the question by sharing the greatest commandment: “…Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.” Matthew 22:37. Jesus went on to also speak of the second commandment which was like unto it and that is to love our neighbor as ourselves.
If the highest priority in our lives as believers should be fulfilling the greatest commandment by loving God with all our heart, we have to ask the question: how do we love God? We find the answer to this important question in the command of Christ “Keep My Commandments.” Multiple times in Scripture we see the way God defines how we love Him is through keeping His commandments. In John 14:21 Jesus said “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.”
Often when we think of loving God we tend to define it as an emotional feeling. We often think that if we have feelings of appreciation for the Lord that is the same as loving Him. Emotions are a wonderful thing designed by God but the reality is that feelings come and go. Genuine love for God is not defined by our emotions. True love for God is instead inseparably connected with keeping Christ’s commandments.
If keeping Christ’s commands is so incredibly important we have to ask another question: How do we keep Christ’s commandments? The Greek word translated “keep” in this verse is the word: tēréō. It has the idea of watching over something intently and observing it earnestly. We should keep Christ’s commands before us by meditating on them day and night. We should treasure them up in our hearts and seek His enablement to live in obedience to them.
If you receive a letter from someone who cares about you, you eagerly open the envelope and delightedly read their words. After you finish reading the letter, the words of the person who loves you linger in your mind and you ponder on them throughout the day. Perhaps you even pin the letter up somewhere so you can continually be reminded of what they have said. Because of your relationship with the person you “keep” their words in the forefront of your mind. This is a great picture of what we should do as disciples of Christ. The Lord loves us so much and has given us His precious Word. We should treasure His Word up in our heart and intentionally turn our thoughts to it throughout the day. As we keep Christ’s commands through meditating on them and living them out in our lives, not only will we be loving Christ in the way He commanded us to, but we will also be transformed into a channel of His love to our neighbor.
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Love for Jesus isn’t just a feeling, but a faithful treasuring of His words. As we obey, we draw closer to His heart, and He reveals Himself to us. His commands reflect who He is, and keeping them deepens our relationship with Him.
We all keep something before our face: phones, media, opinions, fears. But Jesus calls us to keep His words. What we behold, we become.
How can we keep Christ’s commands if we feel so weak? We can’t—at least, not in our own strength. But Jesus never asked us to. As we abide in Him, He enables us by His Spirit to walk as He walked. Through simple steps of memorizing, meditating, and setting our minds on His Word, He empowers a life of joyful obedience and deeper communion.
As we keep Jesus' commands, we receive His love, experience answered prayer, grow in joy, and reflect His heart to others. In loving Him this way, we find life and lasting fellowship.
