Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain in my love. If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commandments and remain in his love.
Into the Text
Through the years, I have prayed that as my girls grew, their love for God would deepen. My prayer has always been that they would understand obedience to God isn’t about checking boxes or following a list of rules but about responding to His overwhelming love for them.
When we grow in our relationship with Jesus and learn to abide in Him more and more each day, He begins to transform us from the inside out, giving us both the desire and the strength to obey Him. When we learn to remain in His love, obedience stops being a burden and becomes a beautiful response to the One who loves us beyond measure. It becomes an act of trust, knowing that His rules are rooted in His perfect love for us.
To abide in Jesus’ love is to live in the assurance that we are deeply cherished. His love changes everything. It fuels our desire to follow Him and enables us to reflect that love to others. Joyful, willing obedience is very different to begrudgingly following a set of rules. It comes from delighting in Jesus and letting His love so fill our hearts that we will in turn love Him with all of our hearts.
The key to obedience is love. The more we fall in love with Jesus, the more willing we are to follow Him. And as we do, our relationship with Him deepens, allowing us to bear fruit that blesses others and fills our hearts with joy.
Prayer
Dear Jesus, thank you for cherishing me. Help me to remain in your love and to obey you out of my love for you. Teach me to walk closely with you and bear fruit that brings you glory. Amen.