“DO YOU LOVE ME MORE THAN THESE?”  

 

In John 21:15-19 we read of the challenge that Jesus gave to Simon Peter after he had denied he knew Jesus three times (Mark 14:27-31, 66-72). Why do you think Jesus challenged Peter about his love for Him? May I suggest that Peter was deficient in his understanding of what real love is. His denial of Jesus came about because he lacked the true love of Jesus in his heart.Therefore other things were greater than that love, i.e. the fear of man, and so caused him (in certain circumstances) to say things that went right across what he really believed, and then caused him to deny he even knew Jesus. For a Christian that is a serious matter.

Love is one of those emotions that we all speak very easily about, but I think that far too many of us who call ourselves by the name of Christian have only a small understanding of what lovereally is. Biblically speaking, it is the most powerful thing anyone can have within us. The whole Gospel (and the reason why Jesus came to this world) was because of a motivation of LOVE! “For God so LOVED the world . . .” (John 3:16). Jesus told Peter what love would do when it is present in a person’s life. It causes us to “Feed His lambs; Tend His sheep, and Feed His sheep” (John 21:15-17). Love is always demonstrated by a visible action. With the love of Jesus actively working within us we can overcome every obstacle and be used of God to impact other people mightily. Without that love we are absolutely nothing (1 Corinthians 13). It is that important. Every true Christian ministry must be motivated by the love of Jesus; otherwise it becomes a religious ritual.

“Do you love Me more than these?” Jesus repeated this question three times to Peter (one for each denial?). How many times does He need to ask us this question? Unless Jesus Christ is Lord of all, then He is not Lord at all! He must come before everyone else, ministry, work, family,home, ~ everything. Otherwise we, too, like Peter, will be found out to be lacking in that which is most important of all. God had to deal with me personally regarding love. He spoke to me one day and said: “I am going to teach you how to love people.” I was shocked, as I thought I did love people. At that point in my life I had been a preacher for 16 years and was a full-time pastor!! But when God began to deal with me about my love, I soon discovered how far short I had come. I realized I was afraid to let His love flow freely through me. I was afraid that if I allowed people to get too close to me then they would see something in me that they did not like, and would reject me. I did not want to be rejected, so I put the barriers up and kept people at “arm’s length” (so to speak). But God showed me that His love was more powerful than anything else, and over the next few years He took me through some experiences that caused a lot of me to “die” so His love could shine forth through my life as I had never known before. That experience of learning to love people changed the rest of my life! I changed! My ministry changed! Next to my love for Jesus people became all-important. Oh, it is hard to explain, but it has caused more fruitfulness as a Christian than anything else I have ever experienced. Love motivates us to minister to others in love. Love saves! Love heals! Love forgives! Love changes! Everything in God is interpreted in the light of our love for Him and one another. Consider this statement of Jesus: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 12:34-35).

 How much do you love Jesus? Does He come before everyone and everything else in our life? Can we honestly ask Jesus to teach us how to love people more than we presently do? If we are willing for that to happen, then know for sure that you are going to encounter some experiences that will take you right outside of your comfort zone. For me it was three death contracts (lasting over a period of five years) ~ but God delivered me from them all. During that time we experienced the power of the love of Jesus delivering us from all fear of death that it is hard to explain. It was powerful and it was amazing. Whatever you go through, the love of Jesus is greater than anything and everything the enemy can bring against us. Love conquers all! It is God’s way for you and for me! ~ Rodney W. Francis.

Bible  Readings:  

John 21; Mark 14; Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75; 1 Corinthians 13; John 13:34-35; John 15:12-17.

Please Pray This Prayer:

“Dear Lord Jesus, I submit my thoughts and life to You afresh. I ask You to teach me how to love people more than I do. Help me to be motivated powerfully by Your great love, and to serve You faithfully day by day. I ask this in Jesus' name, Amen."

 The Gospel Faith Messenger Ministry,  New Zealand. Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.