Day 37 - Love and Obedience

Emily Green

“Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them.” - John 14:21 NLT

“Jesus replied, ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.” - Matthew 22:37-40 NLT

If you’ve been through a Freedom Click yet, you are familiar with love and obedience. At the first meeting of the Click semester, we discuss two different approaches to God based on the Creation story and the two trees we see in the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9). Now, I don’t want to give it all away for those who haven’t been through Freedom, but these two trees we see in the Garden of Eden represent our approaches to God. We either approach God through knowledge or life. When we approach God through knowledge, we experience religion with rules and traditions, but when we approach God through life, we experience relationship.


In John 14:15, Jesus says to His disciples, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” When we approach God through religion and rules, it’s easy to read this verse as “if you truly love God, then you will prove it to Him by doing what He says.” However, if we approach God through life and relationship, we read this verse as “if you truly love God, you’ll naturally do what is right from the overflow of your love for Him.”


God indeed desires us to love Him and His people, as we read in Matthew 22:37-40. Jesus even says that “the entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:40)! Therefore, if we love God and desire to build a relationship with Him, we will automatically do what He asks of us. Loving God and loving people are the two most important things we will ever do. If we can’t love well, we can’t accomplish anything!

God, in His grace, has set boundaries and limits for us humans. There is a difference between right and wrong, and the Bible is our source of truth. However, instead of keeping track of thousands of rules to follow to earn God’s love, why not just receive the love He has for you, which will help you love God and others? When you approach God through the lens of relationship and seek to increase in love for Him, you will welcome the teaching, correction, rebuke, and training in righteousness that God’s Word offers (2 Timothy 3:16). When we love God, we will obey His commands out of delight, not duty!

Next Steps

  • Think about it: When have I tried to earn God’s love? How did that make me feel?

  • Think about it: How does loving God help me obey what He says?

  • Action Step: Set a reminder on your phone or write yourself a note as a reminder to love God and love people. Put it somewhere you can see often!