WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE JESUS?

The question we must answer is not whether we say we love Jesus. We say it. We sing it. Song after song. Service after service. “Oh, how I love You.” “Oh, how we love you.” Again. And again. But do we love Him the way Scripture says to love Him? Not the way our songs say it. Not the way our gatherings say it. But the way the Word defines it.

‍ ‍ Do you love Jesus? Not do you admire Him, sing about Him, post about Him, and even call ourselves a Christian. The question is thousands of years old and Scripture clearly defines what does it mean to love the LORD. There is no ambiguity.

Do you love Him? Jesus gave the test. “He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”—John 14:21 NKJV.

No ambiguity. No loophole. No substitute. LOVE OBEYS: “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.”— John 14:23 NKJV “He who does not love Me does not keep My words.”— John 14:24 NKJV.

‍ ‍ LOVE KEEPS HIS WORD. So the question becomes: What did He command?

‍FIRST — LOVE GOD WITH EVERYTHING

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”— Mark 12:30 NKJV.

Not Part of your heart. ALL. Not part of your soul. ALL. Not part of your mind. ALL. Not the leftover strength after the world is finished with you. ALL YOUR STRENGTH.

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.”— Deuteronomy 6:5 (NKJV) “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.”— Deuteronomy 6:6 (NKJV) “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.”— Deuteronomy 6:7 (NKJV)

Love God with everything. Put His Word in you. Put His Word after you.

SECOND — LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR

“And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”— Mark 12:31 NKJV. Who is your neighbor? A wounded man lay in the road. Religion saw him. Religion passed him. The priest passed. The Levite passed. “But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine.”— Luke 10:33–34 NKJV. He did not merely feel. He stopped. He spent. He carried. He paid. Jesus commanded: “Go and do likewise.”— Luke 10:37 NKJV. DO LIKEWISE.

‍ ‍LOVE IS NOT TALK. “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”— 1 John 3:18 NKJV. Deed. Truth. Not slogans. Not vocabulary. Action. “This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”— John 15:12 NKJV. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”— John 15:13 NKJV. “You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”— John 15:14 NKJV. LOVE OBEYS. LOVE SACRIFICES. LOVE SERVES. LOVE GIVES. LOVING WILL COST YOU SOMETHING. And in some cases, it will cost you your life. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”—John 15:13 NKJV. Friendship with Jesus is not a feeling. It is enlistment. It requires action.

There is no room for hatred as defined by the Scriptures. “He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.”— 1 John 2:9 NKJV. “He who loves his brother abides in the light.”— 1 John 2:10 NKJV. “He who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness.”— 1 John 2:11 NKJV. To hate our brothers is to be in darkness and not abide in the Light as He is in the Light.

‍ ‍The standard does not change. “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”— 1 John 4:8 NKJV. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”— 1 John 4:11 NKJV. “God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”— 1 John 4:16 NKJV. “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar.”— 1 John 4:20 NKJV. MUST is the command. Not when convenient. Not when deserved. Not when aligned. Not when approved. MUST.

LOVE OBEYS

His commands are not a burden. They are the weight of glory. We are commanded to LOVE NOT THE WORD. “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”— 1 John 2:15 NKJV. “The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.”— 1 John 2:16 NKJV. “The world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.”— 1 John 2:17 NKJV. THE WORLD PASSES AWAY. BUT THE WILL OF GOD REMAINS. We must choose what remains. The action is our part. We choose. We act. We do.

LOVE PRACTICES RIGHTEOUSNESS

This is not hidden Christianity. This is visible Christianity. And we shall be known by our love. An action. “By this all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”—John 13:35 NKJV. “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.”— 1 John 3:10 NKJV. “We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.”— 1 John 3:14 NKJV. “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”— 1 John 3:15 NKJV.

LOVE SHOWS NO PARTIALITY

Do not honor man by his social status. His position in life. His money or lack of it. His richness or poverty. His fame or lack of it. His prestige and prominence. But honor all as equals. “Do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality.”— James 2:1 NKJV. “Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?”— James 2:5 NKJV. “If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself,’ you do well; but if you show partiality, you commit sin.”— James 2:8–9 NKJV. The KING of Kings and LORD of Lords has a Royal Law. Break it with favoritism and you stand convicted.

LOVE DOES SOMETHING ‍

Someone is hungry. Someone is naked. Someone is in need. Someone is hurting. You ignore them passing by the other side. You turn a blind eye and keep going. Or worse, you tell them, go in peace. Be warmed. Be filled. You give them nothing. You have failed to heed the command of Jesus. “What does it profit? … Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”— James 2:16–17 NKJV. “Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.”— James 2:18 NKJV. “By works faith was made perfect.”— James 2:22 NKJV. “You see then that a man is justified by works, and not by faith only.”— James 2:24 NKJV. “For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also.”— James 2:26 NKJV.

Dead faith. Profession of faith without obedience is dead faith. Words without deeds is dead faith. Claims of faith without fruit is dead faith. No life, but dead religion. SHOW ME YOUR FAITH. “Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world.”—James 1:27 NKJV.

HE SAID: GO!

GO. PREACH. HEAL. GIVE. They received orders, they obeyed. They moved. they went. They preached. They healed. “So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them.”— Mark 6:12–13 NKJV. “He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick.”— Luke 9:2 NKJV. “So they departed and went through the towns, preaching the gospel and healing everywhere.”— Luke 9:6 NKJV. “Heal the sick there, and say to them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’”— Luke 10:9 NKJV. “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest. Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.”— Luke 10:2–3 NKJV. The problem is not the harvest. The problem is the shortage of laborers.

AFTER THE RESURRECTION: THE ORDER WENT GLOBAL

A commission and an urgent command was given by the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords. Obedience is mandatory and not optional. The commission and command demands a response. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”— Mark 16:15 NKJV. “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations.”— Luke 24:47 NKJV. THEY WENT AND PREACHED EVERYWHERE. “And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs.”— Mark 16:20 NKJV. The LORD working with them conforming the WORD they preached which was the WORD He had given them to preach. What WORD? “Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations.”— Luke 24:47 NKJV.

EMPOWERED TO WITNESS BY THE HOLY SPIRIT

The Holy Spirit empowers for service to go and preach. Power first and then witness. And then witness is worldwide. First Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and then the ends of the earth. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”— Acts 1:8 NKJV.

‍ ‍Empowered to witness. Commissioned to go. Commanded to make disciples. Commanded to love.

THEN THE KING SITS TO JUDGE THE WORLD

All people will meet the KING of Kings and LORD of Lords and hear His judgment over their works. The rich and famous. The poor and needy. The gluttons and hungry. Those who lived well and lavished lives. The well clothed and poor ones with rags. The prisoners, widows, and orphans. All people. “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another.”— Matthew 25:32 NKJV.

‍ ‍YOU DID IT TO ME. Read, hear, and listen carefully to the Words of Jesus: “I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.”— Matthew 25:35–36 NKJV. You gave. You received. You clothed. You came. “Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”— Matthew 25:40 NKJV. YOU DID IT TO ME. Feed them, you did it to Me. Give them drink, you did it to Me. Receive the strnager, you did it to Me. Clothe the naked, you did it to Me. Visit the sick, you did it to Me. Go to the prisoner, you did it to Me.

‍ ‍YOU DID NOT DO IT TO ME. No food. No drink. No welcome. No clothing. No visit. No action. No mercy. “I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take Me in; naked and you did not clothe Me; sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.”— Matthew 25:42–43 NKJV. This is where excuses die. This is where appearances collapse. This is where love becomes measurable. “Inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.”— Matthew 25:45 NKJV.

SO WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO LOVE JESUS?

Scripture has already answered. Do not renegotiate.

Love Jesus? Keep His commandments.

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”— John 14:21 NKJV

Love Jesus? Keep His Word.

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word.”— John 14:23 NKJV

Love Jesus? Love God with everything.

“With all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.”— Mark 12:30 NKJV

Love Jesus? Love your neighbor.

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”— Mark 12:31 NKJV

Love Jesus? Show mercy.

“Go and do likewise.”— Luke 10:37 NKJV

Love Jesus? Love your brother.

“He who loves God must love his brother also.”— 1 John 4:21 NKJV

Love Jesus? Love in action.

“Not in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”— 1 John 3:18 NKJV

Love Jesus? Reject partiality.

“If you show partiality, you commit sin.”— James 2:9 NKJV

Love Jesus? Put faith to work.

“Faith without works is dead.”— James 2:26 NKJV

Love Jesus? Do not love the world.

“Do not love the world or the things in the world.”— 1 John 2:15 NKJV

Love Jesus? Practice righteousness.

“Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God.”— 1 John 3:10 NKJV

Love Jesus? Go.

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations.”— Matthew 28:19 NKJV

Love Jesus? Preach.

“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.”— Mark 16:15 NKJV

Love Jesus? Preach repentance and remission of sins.

“Repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations.”— Luke 24:47 NKJV

Love Jesus? Be His witness.

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me.”— Acts 1:8 NKJV

Love Jesus? Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Receive the stranger. Clothe the naked. Visit the sick. Go to the prisoner.

“Inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.”— Matthew 25:40 NKJV

DO WE LOVE JESUS?

Do we love Jesus?

Then stop measuring love by what we say.

Measure it by what He commanded.

Measure it by obedience.

Measure it by mercy.

Measure it by righteousness.

Measure it by sacrifice.

Measure it by what we do for our neighbor.

Measure it by what we do for the least.

Measure it by whether we go.

Measure it by whether we preach.

Measure it by whether we make disciples.

Measure it by whether His Word governs our lives.

“If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love.”— John 15:10 NKJV

“For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments.”— 1 John 5:3 NKJV

OBEY HIS COMMAND

Keep His Word.

Practice righteousness.

Show mercy.

Serve the least.

Preach the gospel.

Make disciples.

Be His witness.

Go.

The orders have already been given.

The Commander has already spoken.

The Spirit has already supplied the power.

The harvest is already waiting.

Now obey.

“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.”— John 15:14 NKJV

If we love Him —Do what He said.