Our Love

Our Love

Read: John 21:15-17

“Do you love me?”

John 21:17

“To love God is something greater than to know Him.”

—Thomas Aquinas

IN WORD “Do you love me?” Jesus’ question to Peter is more than a sentimental inquiry. It goes to the heart of the purpose of man. Many have observed that if the greatest commandment is to love God with all of one’s heart, soul, mind, and strength, then the greatest sin of all is to fail this commandment. And how Peter had failed! A threefold denial of Jesus is graciously forgiven here in John’s Gospel with a threefold opportunity to affirm his love for the risen Christ. But how contrary to the greatest commandment his denial was, and how deep the shame of such a failure. No wonder Peter wept bitterly.

What about us? Who among us has kept the great commandment for even a few minutes? We may not consider ourselves grossly sinful. Yet the one thing we were created for—a deep, abiding, consuming love for God—eludes us while we busy ourselves with avoiding greed, pride, lust, anger, impatience, and a host of other sinful traits. We mistakenly think that the battle is fought on these fronts, so we spend our energy fighting symptoms when the ultimate source of our sickness is a loveless heart toward God, the most grievous sin of all.

IN DEED True discipleship is an outgrowth of love for Him. After years of trying to follow in Jesus’ steps, we may discover, like Peter, that Jesus values our affections even more than our works, for only out of the former do the latter flow. We find that to fail at this point is to experience ultimate failure, but to have our love for Him revived is to experience ultimate joy. Does Jesus’ piercing question hit home? Ask Him to kindle in your heart an abiding love for Him.