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If You Love Me, Keep My Commands
In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples: “If you love me, keep my commands.”
In John 14, Jesus tells his disciples: “If you love me, keep my commands.”
Biblical brotherhood isn’t primarily built around shared hobbies, watching the game together, or grabbing breakfast once a month. Those have value, but they aren’t what Scripture has in mind when it calls us to love one another. Jesus never called us to admire one another from a distance; he instructed us to “carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2). That’s up-close and hands-on—we can’t be that kind of brother in Christ from the sidelines.
At least, that’s the story we tell ourselves.
Forging dates back as far as 4000 BC, but it truly left its mark around 1200 BC with the rise of iron. The process of forging iron is rugged, monotonous, and time-consuming. You heat the metal, beat it, reheat it, and reshape it again and again. Yet the result is stronger, more durable, and more useful than in its raw form.
There are moments in life when the world around you looks normal, but inside you’re living in a collapsing house. That was me. I walked around with a straight face, but my soul was cracked like old stone. I wasn’t just lost — I was blind. I didn’t know who I was. I didn’t know God. And worse, I didn’t know how far I was from him.
What does it mean when we say that our lives are transformed by Christ? Nothing less than a renewal of our whole selves, a life-long process of uprooting old instincts and behaviors as the Spirit introduces us to a better, more vivid and more merciful life.
Making friends as an adult is a completely different ballgame than it was as a kid. But while it takes work, building your “village” is worth it.
All the Bible is about building relationships. Here’s a few pieces of advice from the Bible about how we can honor our maker and one another in how we treat each other.
In order to live our purpose, we should remain grounded in God’s voice, listen to the needs of our communities, and respond from our security in Christ.
With the start of a new year, many people will set New Year’s resolutions. But how often do we stop to consider the bigger picture, our purpose in Christ? From creation, God provided a purpose for mankind. The greater challenge for us now is to remember and seek after it.
Psalm 107:2
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