Love & Obedience
- May 7
- 2 min read
15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him because he abides with you, and
he will be in you." (John 14:15-17)
As adults, it's easy to understand that the things our parents told us to do when we were children were in our best interest, and - even when it didn't feel like it - it was because they loved us. Our safety and our long-term care were more important than our immediate happiness. Those who are parents now can likely understand even more acutely the sting of a child's disobedience. It may feel like a rejection of all of the love and care that have been poured into that child since (even before) their birth. Every parent, and everyone who has ever loved anyone else, knows the dismay of letting a loved one "learn the hard way".
As Jesus prepared his disciples for the end of his earthly ministry, he reminded them that they could show their love for him by keeping his commandments. How much must our disobedience - our refusal to love one another - hurt Jesus' heart after he gave his life to show us the depth of God's love? Although his disciples didn't understand what Jesus meant when he said he'd send another Advocate in the Spirit of truth, they would eventually learn to rely on that gift for continued guidance and comfort as they sought to keep the commandments Jesus spoke of. Loving God and neighbor - simple, but not always easy.
Just as parents' early moments of heartache and worry can be replaced by healthy pride and joy as their child grows to honor and embody the lessons they endeavored to impart, so our lives can bring honor and glory to God as we strive to live Jesus' commandments to love as radically and selflessly as he loved us. As we prepare to celebrate the mothers we have, the mothers we've known, and/or the mothers we've become, may God help us to live obedient lives of love that make God, and them, proud.
18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."
(John 14:18-21)
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