December 29th, 2009 
Jojo Agot 
I once attended a friend’s wedding where the mother of the groom said during the reception that the ultimate form of love is respect. At first I thought she was being out of context but when I remembered that she is a battered wife, I realized she was speaking from experience. She needed love, and she wanted it to be given to her in the form of respect. It was a heartbreaking thought that crossed my mind as I sat there listening to parents and sponsors taking turns to speak words of advise to the new couple.
Love means differently to different people. If you’re familiar with Gary Chapman’s idea of love tanks, you know what I mean. Some want love in the form of a hug, others in the quantity of time spent with them. Some people want it in the form of gifts while others in the form of service. Most fathers, for example, think you love them if you serve them coffee in the morning. While others think it’s just a silly cup of coffee, for some, it’s a deep expression of love.
Jesus defines love in terms of obedience to His word.
I know it doesn’t sound theologically deep. Obedience, after all, is a boring word. It wouldn’t rank high in Google but it ranks high in the heart of God.
If you love me, you will obey my teaching… John 14: 23.
Obedience is better than sacrifice… 1 Samuel 15: 22
He doesn’t need candles, monuments, cute text messages, bumper stickers, blog shout outs, chain letters, or WWJD bracelets.
He simply wanted us to obey.
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Note: This post is an entry to the bi-monthly blog carnival alternately hosted at Peter Pollock and Bridget Chumbley‘s sites. This week, the topic is LOVE. To read more posts from other bloggers, click here. If you want to participate, just write a post on the topic on schedule and link your blog to the host sites mentioned above. Thank you.
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