Throwing around "Love"

Frank and I had dinner with Jameson recently.  I was SO happy to see him and hugged him so hard!  It was way harder on me when he left...I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach.  As he left I said, "I love you.  Be safe!"  His reply, "I love you too mom."  I believe Jameson does love me.  But, I also believe he loves his freedom right now more.  I thought about this exchange of "love" words between us as I read the following devotional from Planet Wisdom.

 

Loving God means obeying His commandments.  Jesus said so.  I wonder how many of us (myself included) love the idea of obedience rather than being obedient.

 

This is what Moses wrote to the nation of Israel...

"Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

 

And He [Jesus] said to him, " 'YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.' "This is the great and foremost commandment. "The second is like it, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.' "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

 

Then Jesus said to His disciples...

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)

 

I love you all & pray for you daily-M

PlanetWisdom.com Devotionals

Love Ya! Posted: 18 Nov 2008 04:04 PM CST "If you love me, you will obey what I command." (John 14:15) "Love ya!" "Oh, I love these things." "I just love that show." "That guy is great; I love him." "I love you in those shoes." "I love you, but . . ." We love to throw the word "love" around like it's "like," don't we? And that's fine as long as we all know what we mean. But the casual use of "love" has put a dent in our understanding of the word. For his disciples, Jesus set the highest meaning of the word: "Love" = "obey me." Ouch. I do not love that definition. I want to be able to shout "Yes, I LOVE Jesus!" and get some points for all that emotion without being fact-checked by my obedience. Living love is so much harder than saying love. Think: Do you think obedience to Jesus is a fair standard for whether we love Him or not? How would you rate the distance between any feelings of love you have for God and your obedience of Him? Pray: Ask God to give you the courage and will to show your love for Him by doing what He tells you to do. Do: Listen this week for all the different ways people use the word "love." Visit PlanetWisdom.com for more great resources!