One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.…When you said, “Seek My face,” my heart said to You, “Your face, O Lord, I shall seek” (Psalm 27:4,8).

A person’s lack of love for Jesus Christ will be made evident when, in the judgment, Christ damns all who do not love Him. Yet, Paul is merciful and warns the church, if you will not love Christ, you will be accursed. It’s wise to search the Scriptures now and examine your life. Ask, “Do I possess the kind of love the Bible says a Christian should have for Christ?” Remember, we’re not looking for perfect love. Every Christian would look at his own soul and grieve that the love he gives Christ is less than what he wishes to give Him, less than what He deserves. But does a real love for Christ exist in your life? Let’s look at biblical descriptions of the kind of love that we must have for Christ.

First, real love to Christ is always more than words. It includes words, but it’s more than that. Real love involves heartfelt obedience. Look to these passages: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments” (John 14:15); “He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me” (John 14:21); even the love of friendship between the sinner and Christ requires this obedience: “You are My friends if you do what I command you” (John 15:14). When we look at our feelings for Christ, we have to ask ourselves, Do my feelings for Jesus Christ ultimately produce a new loyalty? A new allegiance? Do I have the kind of love that moves me to obey?

Second, real love for Christ is more than keeping rules; it involves a longing to be with Christ—to spend time with Him. We see this principle in human relationships: People who love each other like to spend time together. Paul hints at this in the passage above: “If anyone does not love the Lord, he is to be accursed. Maranatha” (1 Corinthians 16:22). Maranatha means “Oh, come Lord.” It’s a prayer. Like Paul, the Christian longs for the nearness of Christ. The Christian longs for His return. One evidence of our love for Jesus Christ is that we do look forward to the day we will see Him face to face—when He receives all the glory due to Him and is clothed with the splendor that He had before the creation of the earth.

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