Love = Keep His Commandments

by Brandy Webb

I don’t know if any of my readers have noticed, but I like to blog about things that I am trying to learn. Right now, I really want to study the “Fruit of the Spirit” from Galatians 5:22-23. I desire to do a harvest check in my own life. I need to make sure I am bearing good fruit.

We prove ourselves by our fruits. The Messiah states, “You will know them by their fruit. Grapes aren’t gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles, are they? In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a rotten tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a rotten tree cannot produce good fruit. Every tree that doesn’t produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into a fire. So, by their fruit you will know them” (Matt 7:17-20). I know it says “you will know them,” but I believe we can apply this to ourselves. This is how others will know us, by our fruit.

Therefore, I want to look at each fruit individually. Today, I will start with the first one, love. I know I have written about love a lot, probably, because for me, it is the foundation of all God’s fruit, but I have not written about how we show love to our Father and Savior. I have only really focused on showing love to each other and towards ourselves, which is a vital thing, but the first greatest commandment is “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matt 22:37; ref Deut 6:5). If you notice, the Messiah is quoting Moses.

The question then is, how do we show love to God? We do it by our actions. If you are a parent, you understand that one of the greatest ways your child can show love towards you is by doing what you say. Well, the same applies to God. He knows we love Him when we do what He says, thus keeping His commands.

“If you love me, keep my commandments…. The person who has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I, too, will love him and reveal myself to him” – Jesus (John 14:15, 21).

Remember, He did not come to “destroy the Law or the Prophets” (Matt 5:17). He came to fulfill them, and not one little dot will disappear until “heaven and earth disappear” (Matt 5:18). As far as I know, heaven and earth have yet to disappear. Therefore, the commandments are still very important.

Keeping God’s commandments produces good fruit. If we keep His commandments, we abide in His love (John 15:8-10).

I like looking at God’s commandments. The first three point to Him. First, He is God Supreme; no other God comes before Him ever. Second, do not worship a graven image. Third, do not take His name in vain. In other words, honor His name; do not make it a common phrase. Then, He gives us the Sabbath to honor and make holy. A whole day of rest! Who doesn’t like to rest? He tells us to honor our parents because, let’s be honest, if you can’t honor your own parents how will you know how to honor your Heavenly Father. Then, the last half shows how we treat each other.

If we have love, we can keep the commandments. No one that loves God is going to worship a graven image. No one that love’s their neighbor is going to steal from them. “Love is the fulfillment of the Law” (Rom 13: 10b).

In closing, I just want to quote John because he says it much better than I ever could:

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith (1 John 5:2-4).