If you love Me, you will keep My commands. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever. He is the Spirit of truth. The world is unable to receive Him because it doesn’t see Him or know Him. But you do know Him because He remains with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I am coming to you.     John 14:15-18 HCSB

Here Jesus is trying to prepare His disciples for His crucifixion. He’s letting them know that if they love Him they will keep His commands and He will send the Holy Spirit to live in them. He will do the same for those of us who truly love Him. He will also come for us again to bring us to heaven with Him.

You may have a ton of Bible knowledge. You may be able to recite Scriptures left and right. But the real question is do you love Him? In our Scripture passage, Jesus says if we love Him, we will keep His commands. He said in Matthew 22:37, the greatest commandment is that we love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, and all our mind.

What are His commands? Let’s take a look at the Ten Commandments. The first four deal with our relationship with Jesus and our love for God. I want you to look at these and be totally honest with yourself. This is just between you and the Lord and He already knows the answers. The first commandment is, to not have any other gods before Him. Is there anyone or anything that comes before God in your life? Do not make an idol for yourself. Many of us read this and think we are good on this one, but if there is anything we tend to value highly it may have become an idol in our lives. This can include materials possessions, even our jobs or our bank accounts. Think about that for a minute.

Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God. Think about how you use God’s name. It should only be used in reverence to Him. We should never absentmindedly say something like, “Oh God!” And we should certainly never attach God’s name to a curse word or something we say in vain. We are told in Matthew 12:36-37 that on the day of judgment we will give an account of every idle word. Most of us are guilty of this one. Repent and do your best not to do this one again.

Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. God worked for six days and took one day off. He expects us to do the same. I won’t argue with you about how you have to do this or that on Sunday. I know there are jobs that require you to work on Sundays. My dad ran a dairy and cows have to be milked seven days a week. They don’t take Sundays off. Crime doesn’t stop on Sundays. People still get sick and injured on Sundays. But apart from that Sunday is a day to worship the Lord and rest.

The last six commandments deal with how we treat others. Jesus summed these up in Matthew 22:39 by telling us to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. We begin by showing love and honor to our father and our mother. Next we are told not to commit murder. 1 John 3:15 tells us that everyone who hates his brother is a murderer and no murderer shall have eternal life.

The next commandment tells us not to commit adultery. This means sexual intercourse by two people who are not husband and wife, period no exceptions. It can also include lust. Matthew 5:28 says that anyone who looks at someone lustfully has committed adultery in his or her heart.

Do not steal, many of us say that this is not a problem. But think about that one for a minute. There are no exceptions listed. This can refer to company time or anything no matter how small.

Do not give false testimony against your neighbor. Don’t lie. Don’t gossip because sometimes when we spread gossip we are spreading lies. Proverbs 19:5 says a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape.

Do not covet anything that belongs to your neighbor. Don’t be jealous of what others have. Ephesians 5:5 tells us that the greedy or jealous person is an idolater and has no inheritance in the kingdom of God.

If you say you love the Lord, I encourage you to do a little self-examination today. Are you keeping His commandments? If not, there is no better time to confess your sins to Him and repent. He will forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness (1 John 1:9).

Remember when you say you love the Lord, He has a criteria for that. Be sure you meet it.

Have a great day!