If You Love Me...

Tikkun Global

Jerusalem, Israel

Reading through Deuteronomy, I noticed the word “LOVE” appearing over and over again!

The first four books of the Torah talk about the patriarchs, the Exodus, laws, the Tabernacle, priesthood, and travelling around the wilderness. Then you get to the book of Deuteronomy. Moses has gathered all the people together on the plain before crossing over the Jordan into the Promised Land. He’s had 40 years to think about all these laws that God has given. It seems that in the book of Deuteronomy, he wants to emphasize for the people what the main underlying point is.  

Twelve times Deuteronomy speaks about our loving God! Let's feel the weight of it.

“…showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” (5:10 NKJV)

“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (6:5)

“…the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.” (7:9)

“And now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require of you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and to love Him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul…” (10:12)

“Therefore, you shall love the LORD your God, and keep His charge, His statutes, His judgments and His commandments always.” (11:1)

“If you earnestly obey My commandments…to love the LORD your God…” (11:13)

“…to love the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways, and to hold fast to Him…” (11:22)

“…God is testing you to know whether you love the LORD your God with all your heart and soul.” (13:3)

“…if you keep all these commandments and do them, which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and to walk always in His ways.” (19:9)

“And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD…” (30:6)

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God…” (30:15-16)

“…that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice and that you may cling to Him…” (30:20)

This raises a few questions for us, especially: Why does every one of those passages, without a single exception, connect loving God to obeying His commandments (mitzvot)?

In the mind of God, there is no love without commandments, and there are no commandments without love. What God wants from us is to love Him.  Keeping His commandments is coupled with it. The impact comes from the combination of the two. 

How are we going to love Him? We love God by doing what He tells us to do, by keeping His commands, by obeying His Word. Since God is all-powerful, His word has all authority. Nothing He says is a mere suggestion; it is our commandment.  

Why does God ask us to love Him? Because He loves us first. That’s who He is. That is what He desires. Everything that’s happened in the history of the world is because God loves us. He is love and everything proceeds from that, including all the bad things that have happened. The bad things occurred because He gave us free will and is testing us so that we can love Him back.

If we are not obeying what He tells us, then “love” becomes whatever anyone thinks it is. It eventually degenerates into sexual immorality and perversion. Our instincts may be to love, but our selfish desires pull us in the wrong direction.

On the other hand, if you just try to keep commandments and forget that the goal of the commandments is to love the Lord; then you miss it as well. Our pride and self-righteousness will cause our "obedience" to degenerate into religious coercion.

We want to reach that sweet spot right in the middle where love intersects with obedience. Love demands obedience, and love is performed by doing commandments. Every commandment, correctly understood, reveals an aspect of how to love – to love God and love one another.

The combination of love and obedience is not an “Old” Testament viewpoint. Look at 1 John 5:3. “This is the love of God that we keep his commandments.” That’s pretty clear. And Yeshua said the same thing. John 14:15 – "If you love me, keep my commandments." 

Love keeps us out of religiosity, and obedience keeps us out of humanism. We need to walk in that balance, particularly in the face of the flood of bad influence around us today. Society calls what is good bad, and bad good (Isaiah 5:20). These backward moral views are being forced upon us.  

God loves us and wants us to love Him. That is the goal of creation. It is also the destiny of your life. Many people spend years trying to get somewhere, to get a better job, a better house etc. Those who want to serve the Lord want to serve Him better and do more for Him. However, the ultimate goal is simply where you love God and He loves you.

When you get to that point, there is no more struggle. Most humans are focused on improving their circumstances – to make their lives better. But circumstances are secondary. Sometimes in the worst circumstances, you’re actually in the place you should be.

Our destiny is not dependent on our abilities. You can say, “I may not be that smart. I may not be that talented. I may not be that strong, but I can love God; and I can receive His love for me.”

Everybody wants to know, “Why am I here? Where am I going? What's the meaning of my life?” Well, this is it.

Everyone has his or her own experience. You’re going to love God in a way that nobody else does. And God will love you in a way that He doesn't love anybody else. You are unique, special, one of a kind.  

We live in this "love triangle": God loves us; we love God; we love one another. That’s where we need and want to be.