Jesus said to his disciples, “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. These things I have spoken to you, while I am still with you. But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I go away, and I will come to you.’ If you loved me, you would have rejoiced, because I go to the Father; for the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you before it takes place, so that when it does take place, you may believe.”- St. John 14:23-29
As Jesus made His promise to come to us and to be with us, He made it with the requirement that we love Him. And as we learn what love is, we know it is an action and not primarily a feeling. Love is an act of the will, not the state of our mood. Love is an action of one toward another. We love by doing.
And when He says that we are to keep His words, He means that we are to guard them, and treasure them as what is most precious in this life. When we keep His words, it shows our love for Him. It is in the keeping of His commandments – the treasuring of His word – that we establish and strengthen the most important relationship in our lives, the one we most need; that is, our relationship with God. And that relationship He seals with the gift of the Holy Spirit.
We were created for this – to know God and to love Him, and to be with Him forever. And it is in that relationship that we find the peace which Christ promises. It is that peace we need most, because by having that peace we can cope with anything that comes our way. It is when we listen to Christ’s words and keep them that we show our love for Him, so that we can forgive when we have been wronged. It is by keeping Christ’s commandments, and so loving Him, that we can choose to do the right thing, the noble thing.
We bear Christ within us. We have been marked with His cross. We live in the power of His resurrection. And Christ promises us the Holy Spirit to help us in our weakness, and the Holy Spirit will strengthen us with His gifts and supernatural virtues – gifts and virtues which enable us to live as holy and faithful disciples of Christ – choosing the right, not returning hatred for hatred, not seeking to destroy those who would try to destroy us.
The closer we are conformed to Christ – that is, the more we keep His words – then the more we will be showing our love for Him.
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Painting: "Christ Taking Leave of His Apostles"
by Duccio di Buoninsegna (c. 1255 - c. 1319)