Do You Love Me?

John 14:15-31, Jesus said, "If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you the Counselor (Comforter, Encourager, Advocate, Helper), who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit who leads into all truth... Those who obey my commandments are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them, and I will love them... All those who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and will come to them and live with them. Anyone who doesn't love me will not do what I say."

It is a promise, If you love me, you will obey me. You will have strength. I'll keep you from sin. I'll keep you from falling into temptation. He never says that you will not be tempted, but that He will help you because you love Him. Do you love Him? It is very easy to test. Do you live every day to the best of your ability for Him, or do you live for yourself and hope He goes along with it, counting on His grace?

I have lived both of these. I thought that I loved Him, but living was hard. I know my heart because when I am living for Him, sin is not an option. Because I love Him, I do not want to disappoint Him. I want to obey Him, because I love Him. This means that I am thinking about what He wants me to do, before I think about what I want to do. Temptation does not seem nearly as hard to overcome when I think about Christ first. It is when I am putting my own evil desire before Him, that I succumb to temptation. Do you love Him? What kind of life are you living? Do you walk with Him, trying to please Him with your life? Or, do you, knowingly, walk against how He wants you to live.

Of coarse, we will all sin, but there is a difference in living in sin, and being in a fallen world and sinning. I try very hard not to live in sin. I still sin, because I am a sinner, but I used to live in sin, knowing that every thing that I was doing was against Him. Telling a lie, or are you a lier. Having a sexual thought, or are you an adulter. Talking about someone, or are you a gossip. Having sex with your boyfriend/girlfriend or are you a fornicator. Having a selfish thought or are you just selfish... The list goes on and on. What kind of life do you find yourself living, most of the time. This is how you will know if you love Him.