Keeping the Word of God Is Loving God

People in new relationships often ask: How can our relationship grow and become better? How can I show my love to and care for this person?

They ask questions like these because they want to make the relationship grow and go to the next level. But even those in already-existing relationships ask these questions because they know that any real relationship has to keep growing — going deeper and deeper.

The same goes with our relationship with God. You may be “new" in this relationship with Him. Or, you may have already known Him for quite some time, but are now gripped with a desire to know and love Him a little bit more. How can we do this? I think that it’s a good question to ask as we continue our faith journey into 2019.

In John 14:23, Jesus said that anyone who loves Him will obey what He taught. Sounds simple enough, we might think. But oftentimes, we find it difficult to obey what the Bible says. Take for instance what Jesus taught in Matthew 5:38–48: we should love our enemies and pray for our persecutors. Can we honestly say that we are able to do this? We find it easier to pray for God to “discipline” (i.e., punish) them instead of praying for them to be saved. Suddenly, doing what Jesus commanded is not as simple as we thought!

As human beings, we were created in God’s image. Because of that image of God in us, we are able to love. However, because of our sinful nature, our ability to love became imperfect, lacking. This is where God’s love and grace comes in; through receiving Jesus and accepting the expression of His perfect love, we can become capable of loving again.

I believe that for us to be able to sincerely love God by diligently obeying His Word, we need to yield our lives to Him daily. It is an acknowledgement that our love is imperfect, and an acceptance that God’s love is perfect! We need to open our lives for God’s amazing love to work in and through us, and let God make His home with us (v. 23b). And God making His home with us means constant connection with Him.

Truly, nothing beats being blessed with the overwhelming presence of God in our lives!

James Dela Cruz is a student at the International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL) in Quezon City. He enjoys studying the Bible and teaching it to young people. He preaches regularly in his local church, the Lifegiver Christian Family Ministries, located at West Fairview, Quezon City.