Do you love Me?

Jesus said that the two great commandments are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-40). Love is the foundation for living like Jesus.

However, recently I was challenged to answer the question that Jesus asked Peter: “Do you love me?”  Of course, like most believers, I answered yes.  I know I love Him, but the more I thought about this question and my response, the more I began wonder about how I showed Him my love.  I soon realized that I really didn’t know.  Was this just empty words?  It never occurred to me how to show Jesus just how much I love Him.  I didn’t know how to do the very thing that is the basis of my whole life in Jesus – I was undone!

This began my journey into learning how to love Jesus.  Here is what the Lord told me about loving Him.

“Love is the key. How you love Me and how you love others is the foundation for being a true disciple. My disciples are lovers.”

“Loving Me with all your heart, mind, soul and strength means giving Me your time. Make choices to put Me first and to attend to Me before giving time and energy to outside effort.  Start your day with me. Starting all your days this way demonstrates in a tangible way that I am the most important person and activity on your mind. You are showing Me you care for Me and My feelings.”

“Take the time to be with Me exclusively. When you choose Me over other things and thoughts, you are showing Me how much you value Me. This too is tangible evidence of your love for Me. It is being together without an agenda, just to be together. Being together when you don’t directly receive anything from Me is pure love. It is being, not doing life together.  It is enjoying My presence simply to be with Me. It is because of love, and I love it!”

“Another way to love Me is to receive from Me. When you willfully and freely come to Me with a need that I can answer, you are demonstrating trust. You are believing My truth, that I can do anything, meet any need, support any area that is unstable and shaky.  When you trust Me you are showing that I am your sustainer and provider, protector and guide. Love begins with trust. Love grows as trust grows. When you completely trust Me, you put your life in My hands. I see this as love, because this level of trust cannot be broken. Trusting shows love because it is a choice. Your choices show your love.”

“You also show your love for Me by committing yourself to Me. You do this because your experience has proven Me. Knowing Me, knowing My ways is the essential precursor to loving Me. The purest demonstration of love is to be like the one you love. Your desire to be like Me, to think like Me, to act like Me is pure adoration to Me. I so long for you to be close and to replicate Me. When you choose to know Me, to do the work it requires, to give the time it takes, you are proving your heart for Me. As you believe that I am with you always and you testify of My presence and works, you affirm Me. This is affirmation of not only who I am, but also of how much you trust Me.”

The bottom line is:  our choices show our love for Him.

Please share what ways have you learned to show your love of God, and share this post with your friends.  You can also subscribe to receive these posts automatically by email.