Jesus tells us in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” And for many of us, at least at one time or another in our lives, we hear those works and think how burdensome it is to keep those commandments, how stifling, how difficult.
Yet, what Christ asks of us in this verse isn’t any more than what we ask of our children, our loved ones, or those we supervise. Keep my commandments. We expect others to treat our rules and requests with respect and to honor them; especially out of love! So ask yourself, how can you expect this of others if you are not willing to do the same, for the person who should be the most important “person” in your life, whose reasons are probably a lot more sound and eternal than our own!
If we love Him, will we not want to please him always and in all ways? In a way, it’s like a yardstick with which we measure our love for Him (if we could actually do such a thing). If we fail in honoring those commandments, what does that tell us about our love? Does it matter? Do we feel guilt? Is that guilt related to letting Him down or fear of punishment? For those we love the most, we try to live up to their commandments. Aren’t they the ones we dread disappointing? The greater love we build up for God, the more likely we are to keep those commandments and the easier it will seem as we attempt to please our beloved.