John 14:15 "If you love me, you will obey what I command."

"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrafice for our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:10-11)"We love because he first loved us." (1 John 4:19)

In order to love God we must first realize the extent of his love for us.

Ephesians 1 and 2 gives an awesome picture of all that I have been blessed with through Christ, by the grace of God: I have been chosen to be holy and blameless, predestined to be adopted as a child of God, freely given his glorious grace, redempted through his blood, forgiven of sins, made aware of the mystery of his will, included in Christ, given the seal of the Holy Spirit, made alive with Christ, saved by grace, raised with Christ, and even created to do good works.

All of this was made possible because of the sacrafice that Christ has made for me. Because of the richness of God's love and mercy, he sent Jesus to provide the just atonement for sin, making it possible for a restored relationship with God, forgiving my sin, and redeeming me from its power. Because of Jesus' blood atoning for my sin, God now looks on me with favor. Jesus lived a sinless life, suffered and died in innocence to gain this for me. Because of the love of God, he went to the cross

These blessings bestowed on me say alot about God and very little about me other than that I was stuck in sin, but God called me out of it. He does not love me because of anything that I did, am, or have, but because of who he is. Clearly I have nothing before God as it says in Romans 3:10-12: "...There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. all have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God who is rich in mercy, made us alive in Christ even when we were dead in transgressions---it is by grace you have been saved." (Ephesians 2:3-5)

This love is amazing and so undeserved. That he would chose to call me out of darkness and love me as his daughter, and give me a purpose to fulfill, using me to work through others. If I fully realize the extent of his love I will love him also and will obey his commands. What is his command? Jesus says in the next chapter (15:12), "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you." Loving others is simply the natural outflow of my love for God. When I truly realize what I have been forgiven and how undeserved his grace and love is, I will naturally desire to pour it out on others. This verse is an if, then statement: if you love, then you will obey. It is not saying if I love then I have an obligation to obey, which I certainly do, but it is just simply saying that if I truly love God, the result will be that I love my brother as well.

"This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." (1 John 3:16)

"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.'"

The true measure of our love for God will be shown in how we love the least of these. Today, my goal is to spend some time in prayer, thanking God for his great and undeserved love and asking him to help me to grasp it more so that I can in pour out love to my brothers, and think of ways that I can live out love for my brothers in light of his love for me.