John 14:21. Whoever knows and obeys my commandments is the person who loves me. Those who love me will have my Father’s love, and I, too, will love them and show myself to them.”

Talk about a packed verse of Scripture, this one is loaded with truth and honest answers to a lot of questions facing the church today. At this point it is prudent to preface these remarks with the thought that we love him because he first loved us.

Love requires and investment of time and action for it to truly be love. For some it is easy to say the words, I love you, while some find it even difficult to say. Jesus says we must come into a knowing of what he not just wants us to do but commands us to do and then take it one step further and do it, before we are allowed to actually say we love him.

An old friend of mine once defined love as the unselfish choice for the greater good of another. By this definition we can see that Jesus modeled his love life. He did what the Father sent him to do—die on a cross! For the joy set before him, our redemption, he was obedient even to the point of actual death on a cross. Somehow through us following this model we are able to identify with Jesus in a way that far surpasses mere intellectual knowledge and therein lies the blessing of love as well as the secret of salvation—complete and total identification with Christ. This type of love life will have the benefit of turning on the light of revelation that permits us to see the Jesus in a way that will change us forever as well as foster in us the reality of well being that comes along with knowing that the creator of the universe has made you the object of his love, affection and protection.

John 14:21