Obedience – The Right Response To Love

It is a natural desire for us human to love and to feel loved. It is necessary for us to experience love in our lives. Life without love is empty, hollow, meaningless. But some of us fell in love with the wrong persons. We found love in the wrong places. And this kind of love brought us great pain in the end. It hurt so much that we asked God why He allowed us to be in that situation in the first place. We only meant well. Why do we have to be hurt in love even when we have good intentions?

When you love someone, you want what is best for him. You make sure everything he needs is being provided. You see to it that he is always safe.  You will protect him at all times. So when you think that someone or something is not good for him, you try to steer him away from these things.  You tell him to avoid these things.  You ask him to stay away from the things that you think will not do any good to him.  This kind of love is best exemplified by parents.  Parents love their children so much that any threat to their children’s well-being, they are disposed to do everything in their capacity to remove these threat.  The only way to respond to this kind of love is through obedience. 

The opposite of obedience is rebellion.  And rebelling against someone who loves us means we don’t want his love. We refuse to accept his love. And eventually, they will stop loving us. Imagine if God stops loving us. But the good news is, God’s love is everlasting. We, humans, when we are being constantly opposed by persons we love, we stop caring for them. When we don’t receive the obedient response to our love, we stop loving and start hating.  But unlike us, God loves unconditionally.

God allows us to experience love and its consequence. He wants us to fully understand the true meaning of love. He wants us to be in his shoes. Because even before we were born, God loves us already. Our painful experiences with loving other people is the way God teaches us how to respond to His love. We fall then fail in love because of the wrong response of the persons we gave our love to. God is telling us, “I have loved you. I will always love you.  When will I get the right response from you. When are you going to obey me?”

Let us think about God and how much He loves us. God wants what is best for us. He wants us to be the best that we can ever be.  He has great things in store for us.  All we have to do is to respond to His love through obedience. 

Let us examine our lives and think of the persons and things that are preventing us from responding to God’s love.  These are persons or things in this world that we are strongly attached… emotionally. And they are the reasons why we disobey God and His commandments.  It can be our bad habits or vices, wrong persons we have relations with, obsessions and addictions… whatever they are, they are the things that God wants us to steer and stay away from because God knows they are preventing us from becoming the best person that He wants us to be.

Do You Really Love God?

Have you ever professed, “I Love God!”? Have you ever uttered, “Lord, I Love You!”?

Maybe you did especially during those times when you obtained what you have been yearning for. Those times when all your prayers have been answered by God. You even shouted or let your mind scream with gladness, “Yes Lord! I Love You!”

If you have really experienced being in love with someone, you can honestly answer these questions. How does it feel to be in love? How happy can you be if you are with someone you love and he or she would do everything you want him or her to do?

If you have truly loved, you will also know the answers to these questions. How would you feel if you learn that the one you love is in love with somebody else and he or she love this somebody more than you? How painful is it everytime your loved one sin against you by doing something you don’t like?

Have you ever thought maybe God wants us to experience these things – be in love and be hurt – because God wants us to feel how it is to be in His place? That everytime we receive His blessings and graces we profess that we love Him, but we still continue to do things He doesn’t want us to do? God loves us so much! That’s the reason why we are still alive today, breathing, strong and able to earn a living, been sick but healed, lost something but something far better came along to replace it, been hurt but it made us stronger, oppressed but given a chance to persist and be victorious in the end! How many instances in our lives prove that God really loves us? Can you count it since the day you were born in this world? Then why do we keep on offending God by telling Him we love Him but we don’t follow what He wants us to do?

Do you really love God?

Sin is sin. Something wrong will never be right. The devil distorts our mind. The devil uses our feelings. The devil knows our weaknesses and he will do everything to make us betray God. The devil wants to prove that we really don’t love God. That’s why he never stops ensnaring us to drive us to commit sins. He will use events, things or other people that we find hard to resist. And for every sin that we commit, we only prove that we don’t love God!

How many times have we given in to temptations? How many times have we sinned? We ignored God countless times! But God loves us so much He keeps on giving us another chance everytime we confess our sins and ask for His forgiveness. Did God gave us only a single chance? Have you counted the second chances God gave you? If you read this it’s because you are still alive! And this moment is another second chance that you will add up to the countless chances God gave you!

Sometimes we think that commiting sin is part of God’s will in our lives. We are so wrong! That’s what Satan wants us to think! We have the ability to choose between what is right and what is wrong. God gives us freedom to decide for ourselves! Most of what happened in our lives are consequences of the choices and decisions we made.

If we love God we will follow His commandments. God should be the center of our lives, He must reside deep within our hearts. God must be our number one priority! Before we do something we should always ask ourselves first, will this prove my love for God?

Heavenly Father, I owe my life to you. You love me so much that’s why I’m here in this world, with all your other creations. Thank you so much for this life you gave me. And for the daily blessings you bestowed me even though I sinned against you countless times.

Forgive me, Father, for all the sins I have commited against you. If I have loved things or people more than you, forgive me, Father. I’m here because you gave me another chance to realize this mistake. My God, give me strength, clear mind and courage so that I can can win over everything that will test my love for you. I can not do this alone but I have faith that in your great power, love and mercy, I can do all these things.

Beloved Father, God in heaven, teach me how to love like you do, like the love that your Son, Jesus, also gives us . I hope that this kind of love will forever stay in my heart. Love that brings joy and not pain, blesses and not destroy, beneficent and not tempting…. love for my fellowmen that will eventually bring them to your great love, My Lord, because you are the God of Love.

In the mighty name of your holy Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior, we sincerely pray to you, Father. Amen.