Loving Jesus

I think if you ask anyone who claims to be a Christian they would absolutely say that they love Jesus. There are a million e-mail forwards and Facebook status updates that we all copy and paste to prove our love for Him.... right??

But lately I've been thinking about what it really means to Love Jesus. Do I really love Him the way I should?

Jesus said in John 14 "If ye love me, keep my commandments." and "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me". So, if I love Him I'll keep His commandments..... the flip side of that is if I don't keep His commands I'm not loving Him.

What are His commands?
Matthew 22:37-40 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
John 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another.

His command is to love.... love God and love my neighbor. But love is more than just saying I love or feeling like I love. Love is doing, it's action. Love is serving, it's putting others ahead of myself.

Matthew 25:34:46 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.


I show my love for Christ by serving others, not by just telling everyone that I love Him, but by my actions. It's not a noun, it's a verb... not a feeling, it's actions. And then the feelings will come, but we can't wait until we feel love to show it. If we do that we'll lose out.


I Corinthians 13:4-7 defines love: Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

In plain English, here's the NIV version ...Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

That is what love is.... and when I live those actions then I am loving Jesus.


In case you're thinking I'm some holier-than-thou who never messes up and always shows the perfect love of Christ....no! I fall.... a lot more than I should. I thank God daily for His grace. The thing is we can't use His grace as an excuse to never try. Yes we'll mess up, but when we do we must dust ourselves back off and try again. Strive to enter in at the strait gate, but if you mess up don't give up. Thank God for His grace and forgiveness and try again.