Jesus said that the greatest of all commandments is to love God (Matthew 22:36-38).  This has always been the case.  Jesus is quoting Deuteronomy 6:5, a passage that is known in traditional Judaism as “the Shema,” taken from the first word of Deuteronomy 6:4—“Hear,” which points to an obedient hearing, that is, hearing with the purpose of obeying.

Do you love God?  We would all like to think that we do, but the question is do we really love Him?  There are ways that we can prove to God, and even to ourselves, that we truly love Him.  This week I want us to consider five ways that we can demonstrate that we love God, fulfilling the greatest of all commands.

The first way we prove that we love God is by keeping His commandments. 

John 14:15 (ESV)
¹⁵  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

There is no dispute about this.  Jesus did not say that if we love Him we might keep His commandments, or that we will probably keep His commandments; He said that we WILL keep His commandments.  He was clear about this.  If there is love for God, there will be conformity to His commandments.

The word Jesus used for “keep” in John 14:15 is “tēreō,” referring to a watchman or guard who is keeping an eye on something.  Strong tells us that it is different from the Greek word that refers to preventing one from escaping (phulasso), or the word used to denote a military fortress (koustodia).  This word means, “to detain, or by extension, to hold fast” (Strong).  If we love the Lord this is what we will do with His commandments—we will detain them in our hearts and guard them from loss.

What kind of things do we hold fast and guard from loss?  They are things that are valuable to us.  We keep the commandments of God because we know they are of great value.  How do we know that?  We know it because we know their source.  We know God, and we know that God is always acting in our best interests.  Interestingly, the Bible says the same thing about loving and knowing God.

1 John 2:3 (ESV)
³  And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

Why does the Bible say the same thing about loving and knowing God?  It is because to know Him is to love Him.  So, if you do not love God, it is because you do not know Him.  If you know Him, you realize that He loves us more; thus, everything He does, including giving instructions and commandments by which we are to live, is done out of that love for us.  Those commandments, then, must be in our best interest.  Now, since we know this, we are going to keep His commandments, and by doing so, we will be demonstrating that we know and love Him.

This is biblical logic that never fails.  It does not matter what the commandment is, how difficult it may be, how much we have to sacrifice or suffer, or how much we like or do not like the commandment—we will obey God, and we will do it gladly because we know Him.  This is the first piece of evidence that proves our love for God.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.