Love = Obedience

As much as such a suggestion conjures up all kinds of cognitive dissonance in many, the truth of obedience as a clear sign of true love is unmistakable.

St. Ignatius says, “It is not hard to obey when we love the One whom we obey.”

I would add that the key ingredient in true love is obedience, not emotion or even attraction. Emotions change, and attraction fades, but obedience isn’t dependent on any of this.

Of course, we are currently on the other side of the disastrous social experiment called “self-esteem,” we all went through a few decades ago, which has produced several generations unable to see obedience as fundamental to love. In fact, they assume any call to obedience is an affront to their freedom. While all the while falling into complete conformity to the politically correct mind virus that insists on obedience! It’s madness.

And yet, here we are. When we assume there is no “god” higher than our own ego, we descend into the poverty of the soul we see all around us today.

But the humble maturity of learning that love obeys and doesn’t constantly seek its own gratification is the healing wisdom of a Normal Orthodox life.

Our Gospel lesson today comes from John 14:21-24:

The Lord said to his disciples, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me; and he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, “Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself to us, and not to the world?” Jesus answered him, “If a man loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words; and the word which you hear is not mine but the Father’s who sent me.”

The Lord insists that obedience is the natural result of true love. But what about obedience really shows that we love God?

First, obedience displays trust. Sure, you can obey out of fear of punishment, but you don’t have to love someone you fear. Jesus ties obedience to love in such a way that we begin to understand that when I love God, I desire to hear Him, and I trust He knows me best and wants what is best for me. I trust God, and that trust flows from the fact that I love Him. And this trust has the added benefit of actually growing my love for God! Obedience flows from trust, and trust encourages obedience, and that grows love!

Second, obedience displays faithfulness. Notice the Lord used the word “keep” in reference to His word. It isn’t just that we “do” what God says, but we hold and treasure the Word of God (by the way, the Word of God is a Person – see John 1). We so treasure the wisdom of God and the Person of God that we expend the energy, time, and resources to preserve and propagate His Word from generation to generation. For this reason, we pass on our devotion to and for God to our children. A faithful person is an obedient person. These virtues are inseparable!

Finally, obedience displays communion. What I mean by communion is that we are as tied to God as a branch to a tree. Eventually, the branch becomes so like the tree trunk that one can’t really tell the “two” apart! I am moving in a “symphony” with God, to the point that the “family” resemblance is so strong there is no doubt as to Whom I belong. “That boy looks just like his daddy!” This is exactly what we Orthodox mean by “deification.” Our love draws us deeper into the healing of God’s image within us! We become “like” Christ! And it all starts with an act of our will to obey!

St. Jude was a kinsman of the Lord in His humanity and was one of the 12 Apostles. His love for Christ began as familial love and then became a love that obeyed his kinsman because St. Jude knew Him as God in the Flesh! This loving obedience had St. Jude write the last of the General Epistles in our New Testament to believing Jews, after the Romans destroyed the Jewish Temple, encouraging them to stay connected to Christ. He was killed for his loving obedience to Jesus in the year 80 AD in the ancient city of Beirut.

Today, is your definition of “love” large enough to spur you on to greater devotion to God, to obedience? Is your “love” in need of a makeover? Would you like your definition of “love” to stretch your soul into a larger vessel to hold more of God’s presence in your life? Plainly, know that your level of obedience is a direct indication of your love for God! Period. With this in mind, perhaps now you can see why we must always be encouraged to a life of repentance and growth in spiritual maturity. It’s why we love God so much so that we can be Normal Orthodox Christians.

P.S. We know you as a kinsman of Christ and we laud you with sacred hymns and songs as a most steadfast Martyr who trampled on error and who courageously kept the Faith. As we celebrate today your holy remembrance, we receive forgiveness of our sins and transgressions, O Jude, through your holy prayers.

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