Kevin shares his thought for the week; obedience over words.

In John chapter 14 verse 15 Jesus says to the disciples,

If you love me, you will keep my commands.

John 14:15

If we wonder what role does obedience play in our relationship with God?

I think this verse pretty clearly explains it to us. Here we see a very direct association between love and obedience. To God, the way that we show that we love Him is when we obey Him. Even when we look back in 1 Samuel, we will see how Samuel says to Saul that obedience is better than sacrifice. We could go around and say, “God, I did this for you. I did that for you. I gave up this for you. This is how much I love you.” We could sing song after song regarding how much we love Him. We could just say, “I love you” to Him day in, day out.

But then God is saying, “The way you truly say, ‘I love you,’ to me, is when you actually obey my commands and you live by my will.” This is the way we prove to Him that we genuinely love Him. We all know that God loves us. We know that He’s proven it to us by giving up His life on the cross for our sins, by paying the price for us, by calling us His children.

But then, how do we prove to Him that is what John 14 speaks about? Jesus clearly states, “You keep my commands, and that is how I understand that you actually love me.” I think this can sometimes be very often under-recognized in a way. And we could go around doing lots of social stuff, helping people out, doing a lot of ministry. We could be serving in church. But then, the moment we step out, we could live a life that is not pleasing to God.

I would like this to be a reminder to every single one of us that instead of us saying, “I love you, Lord,” let’s start to obey His commands. I think that’s the way He understands that we genuinely love Him. Have a great week!

Every week one of our members shares a short thought aiming to inspire you for the week. You can watch previous Thought For The Week videos by clicking here.