Jesus tells us that He loves us as much as the Father loves Him and that He wants us to remain in His love. We remain in His love by doing what Jesus commands us to do. There aren’t any hidden messages in the gospel for this week. Jesus plainly states, “This I command you: love one another.”
There could be more blogs written than I could write in a lifetime about what it means to love one another. Jesus says that the reason He gives us this command is, “…so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.” He knows that we will be happiest with His joy in our hearts and that joy will be there if we love one another.
Being a father has helped me better understand how our Father feels. As a father, I know what is best for my kids and I tell them to do certain things because I know they will be safe and happy if they listen to me. Of course, they don’t always listen to me and sometimes they are unhappy because they didn’t listen. How many times is God looking down on us saying, “I told them to do that! Why didn’t they listen”?
God doesn’t want to see anyone not make it to heaven. That is why He gives us commandments. The only way we don’t make it to heaven is by not listening to Him. The more we follow his commandments, whether big or small, the happier we will be. We need to remember that we are all in this together and should help each other out. When I walk in a building and someone is behind me, I hold the door for them so they will have an easier time entering. Let’s do the same spiritually. In addition to opening the door to heaven for ourselves, help make it easier for someone else to enter heaven.
When God judges us, we will understand how our actions helped and hurt those around us. Even a small good gesture could make someone’s day brighter and nudge them in the right direction towards God. We all want to be loved. By loving others, we will remain in God’s love forever and with God’s love in our heart, our joy will be complete.
