What it really means to love Christ

Who do you think of when you try to imagine what a Christ-loving person is really like? What does it really mean to love Jesus? In some of the contemporary Christian songs (e.g. In Moments Like This, Lord I Give You My Heart, Draw Me Close To You, and Hear These Praises (Love you so much)), the lyrics sound like a person singing for his or her lover. This can lead one to think that to love Christ is to be in love with Christ.

Here is what Christ himself says about loving him. It is so important to get it right that he mentioned it several times in John 14. In this chapter, Jesus was comforting his disciples, knowing that he will soon be leaving them (to be crucified).

John 14:15: (Jesus said) "If you love Me, keep My commandments"

John 14:21: "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me....."

John 14:24: "He who does not love Me does not keep My words ....."

From the above, Jesus clearly says that loving him is not just about saying "I love you". It is about keeping his commandments. He emphasized that to his disciples several times during the same session. Clearly, a person who loves Christ is a person who has Christ's commandments and keeps them. It is not a person who adorns images of Christ all over the place, who sings romantic love songs to his Saviour, and who has that love-struck look in his face.