If You Love Jesus…

February 17, 2026

Do you love Jesus? I mean really love Him? It is of utmost importance that we develop a true love for Jesus, because loving Him is the key to a deeper, more satisfying, more obedient spiritual life. Here is what I mean: Jesus said to His apostles in John 14, “…If anyone loves me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him” (John 14:23 NASB95). What tremendous promises flow from loving Jesus! Loving Jesus leads us to obeying Jesus. Loving Jesus leads to receiving a special love from the Father Himself. Loving Jesus leads to the Father and Son coming into us to live within us. But it all starts with love!

Let us examine the first part of Jesus’ statement: “If anyone loves me, he will keep My word.” Notice that love comes first and obedience is the result. If we love Him, then we will obey Him.

And don’t we have every reason to love Jesus? We love Jesus because of what He has done. It was Jesus who loved us first. It was Jesus who sought us out while we were yet sinners. It was Jesus who gave His life for us when we had nothing to offer Him in return. His death on our behalf was the ultimate expression of love for us. Not only this, but we love Jesus because of who He is. We marvel at His power, His grace, His humility, His compassion. As we think of these attributes of Jesus, how could we not love Him?

And what does it mean to love Him? It may be helpful to think about what it means to love the special people in your life. We delight in the people we love. We are drawn to them because of their qualities. We want to be near to them. In a similar way, to love Jesus is to cherish Him for who He is, to delight in Him, and to desire a close relationship with Him.

And this kind of love for Jesus is the key to living a life of obedience. Think about this: the next time you are faced with temptation, think about your love for Jesus. Say to Him, “Lord, I will turn away from my sinful desires because I love you so much.” Say to yourself, “How could I hurt my Lord Jesus by continuing in this sin?”  Our love for Him is a powerful motivator to keep walking with Him.

Today, let us reflect on all the many reasons we have for loving Jesus. May our love for Him control every aspect of our lives and empower a willing, joyful obedience to Him that comes from the heart.

—Scott Colvin

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The Work of the Holy Spirit: Knowing God’s Love

May 17, 2024

How do you get through tough times?  There are many among us who are going through some very difficult situations.  How do you get through it all?  What keeps you going?

Paul writes in Romans chapter 5 that because we have been justified by faith in Christ, because we have peace with God through Christ, and because we are standing in His grace, we can rejoice in hope.  As Christians, we can rejoice, even in our tribulations, because we know that they are bringing us closer to God.  We can rejoice in tribulations, knowing that “tribulation brings about perseverance; and perseverance, proven character, and proven character, hope…” (Romans 5:3-4 NASB95) And hope helps get us through every challenge.  We have hope in Jesus!  We can be growing in that precious hope—that confident expectation that one day God will make all things right, that He will wipe away every tear, that we will live with Him eternally.

But hope is something that you cannot see (Romans 8:24-25).  We hope for things that will happen in the future—things that certainly will not disappoint us.  But the challenges we face are happening now.  Is there anything that can help us to persevere now? 

This is where the work of the Holy Spirit comes in.  “And hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5 NASB95)  The Spirit was given to those in Christ to help them in the here and now.  He does this by pouring the love of God into our hearts.  When we go through trials and heartache, God knows that it is critical that we have a deep, abiding sense of His love for us.  His love for you is something that can be known and experienced.  The experience of His love helps us to get through the hard times while we wait in hope for all He has promised us.

We learn something similar in the third chapter of Ephesians.  Paul prays for the brethren that they would be strengthened in their inner being through the Holy Spirit, so that Christ would dwell in their hearts, that they would be rooted and grounded in love, and so that they would be able to comprehend the incalculable dimensions of Christ’s love. (Ephesians 3:16-19) It is through the Spirit’s indwelling that they would, “Know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:19 NASB95)

May God help us, through His Spirit, to comprehend the incomprehensible love of Jesus.  Now and always, may we experience the love of God being poured out within our hearts through the Spirit He has given us.

—Scott Colvin

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Posted by Scott Colvin