John 14:15
King James Version
15 If ye love me,
keep my commandments.
What are our ideas about love?
Can love be measured?
Are we ready to love, as Jesus did?
How can we know if we love the right way?
What is the right way?
Scripture has the answers, starting with Jesus.
Mark 12:28-31 (KJV)
28 And one of the scribes came,
and having heard them reasoning together,
and perceiving that he had answered them well,
asked him,
Which is the first commandment of all?
29 And Jesus answered him,
The first of all the commandments is,
Hear, O Israel;
The Lord our God is one Lord:
30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind,
and with all thy strength:
this is the first commandment.
31 And the second is like,
namely this,
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
There is none other commandment
greater than these.
And look how important those two commandments are:
Matthew 22:40 (KJV)
40 On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets.
Apostle John also reminds us:
1 John 4:7-21 (KJV)
7 Beloved,
let us love one another:
for love is of God;
and every one that loveth
is born of God,
and knoweth God.
8 He that loveth not
knoweth not God;
for God is love.
9 In this was manifested
the love of God toward us,
because that God
sent his only begotten Son into the world,
that we might live through him.
10 Herein is love,
not that we loved God,
but that he loved us,
and sent his Son
to be the propitiation for our sins.
11 Beloved,
if God so loved us,
we ought also to love one another.
12 No man hath seen God at any time.
If we love one another,
God dwelleth in us,
and his love is perfected in us.
13 Hereby know we that we dwell in him,
and he in us,
because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and do testify
that the Father sent the Son
to be the Saviour of the world.
15 Whosoever shall confess
that Jesus is the Son of God,
God dwelleth in him,
and he in God.
16 And we have known and believed
the love that God hath to us.
God is love;
and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,
and God in him.
17 Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness
in the day of judgment:
because as he is,
so are we in this world.
18 There is no fear in love;
but perfect love casteth out fear:
because fear hath torment.
He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19 We love him,
because he first loved us.
20 If a man say,
I love God,
and hateth his brother,
he is a liar:
for he that loveth not his brother
whom he hath seen,
how can he love God
whom he hath not seen?
21 And this commandment have we from him,
That he who loveth God
love his brother also.
Jesus also said:
John 13:34 (KJV)
34 A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another;
as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another.
We are all flawed human beings.
By the grace of God, and by being born again, we can begin to understand God's law of love, and follow His commandments.
Until then, it's all vanity.
And it's often war, greed, and corruption.
Christ must live among us.
By being in our hearts first.
