03/16/2026
Jesus loves us, this sounds like such a simple statement, and is indeed the repeating theme of a childish worship song whose lyrics begin “Jesus loves me this I know”, but do we really know this? Do we understand the depth and complexity of His love for us? A bigger question is, how do we experience this love?
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.”
John 15:9-10 ESV
We are told to keep the commandments of Jesus, and in that way we will abide in His love. As we read them they seem so simple and basic, at least when we say them, and yet, like many simple thoughts and sayings, they become challenging in their application. As an example let’s visit the commandment He gave us in the following verse...
“"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”
John 15:12 ESV
This sounds so simple, but have you ever really done this? Loving someone who loves you back is easy enough, but what about loving those who do not, or who irritate you in just about everything they do or say?
I once knew a lady who even as an adult had the innocence of a child. Beyond that, I never heard her say a bad thing about anyone, and her faith and charity were nearly without blemish... but she had a condition in which she talked incessantly and described every aspect of her life in excruciating detail. She was loving, faithful, lived the life of Christ, and was brilliant, but this one flaw irritated me to no end. Because of this I found it hard to be around her, as a matter of fact I tried to avoid her... until one day something amazing happened... I saw her through the eyes of Christ and loved her back.
On that day as she was telling me an incredibly detailed account of a problem she had solved, when something clicked within me, and at that moment I loved her as Jesus had commanded. I didn’t just say I loved her while trying to avoid being around her... I truly loved her. I saw in her the child of God she was, and I loved her despite the exuberant detail with which she described everything. I loved her like one of my own children, and the feeling of that overpowered me. I knew right then that this was what Jesus was talking about. This woman, at that moment, had become an indescribable spiritual gift to me.
So, what attributes about ourselves might grate on the nerves of Jesus if it weren’t for His amazing love for us? What is it about who we are that would make Him want to avoid being near us? I dare say that the list would be long, and yet He loves us in spite of who we are... in us He sees the child of God. I was reading Pastor Andrew Murray, and he described the love that Jesus has for us in this way...
“When it was needed, He sacrificed His throne and crown for you; He did not count His own life and blood too dear to give for you. His righteousness, His Spirit, His Glory, even His throne — all are yours. This love holds nothing back, but, in a manner that no human mind can grasp, makes you one with itself. O wondrous love!” - Andrew Murray
There are many people I still work to love, but by loving the one woman I have told you about, I now know how to do that, and what it feels like to give my love unconditionally. I know the sheer joy that permeates me when that love comes over me, and what it feels like when I am truly abiding in Jesus… I know the feeling that I once thought I had… but hadn’t yet realized.
Loving those who are like us, and who love us back comes easy, but loving those who don’t love us, and those we would otherwise find irritating, is hard... this makes understanding the childhood lyric “Jesus loves me” one of the most difficult and life changing events we can imagine; yet once we do, we are gloriously changed. Obeying each one of Jesus’ commandments brings us deeper into Him, and fills us with His love, and the immeasurable joy that only our abiding in Him can give us. Are you ready to conquer the difficulty within the simplicity of this one commandment, or any of His other commandments? Are you prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to bring you the understanding you need to overcome your shortcomings and to obey them? Can you find it within yourself to love those around you regardless of who they are or how they might grate on you?
“These things I command you, so that you will love one another.”
John 15:17 ESV
Prayer:
Father, I thank you for the love of your Son Jesus and for making provision that I can abide in it, and Him. I thank you for the quickening joy that obeying His commandments brings to my soul, and the feeling that His love pours over me. I now know what it means to obey His commandments and to abide in His love, and in this way I also find myself within yours; for this I don’t know how to thank you enough. For this I praise your name as I learn from the Holy Spirit, live in obedience, and overcome my inability to fully understand the essence of what, on its surface, seems so simple, and yet is so hard for me. Indeed, I thank you for your Holy Spirit, and the understanding he imparts to me; without him I would most certainly fail, and without Jesus I would not know your love and the overwhelming joy that it brings me. You are merciful Father, and your love for me fills the depths of my being to overflowing. Your grace is sufficient and spurs me on as I seek to know you more completely. Teach me how to obey Jesus, and I will give you the glory and praise for the abiding love I find within myself. Holy, Holy, Holy, art thou, and great is your love. How amazing I find your grace to be and how rewarding my obedience to the commandments of Jesus who abides in me.
“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we swill come to him and make our home with him.”
John 14:23 ESV
Amen, Amen, Amen!
Rich Forbes