By extension, we are commanded to obey the apostles' teachings as they were commissioned by Jesus Himself to teach with His authority. Jesus has sent us the Holy Spirit to teach, remind, lead, comfort, indwell, and empower us to obey His commands (John 14:15–17). For what He commands He also gives the power to perform. His commands are not burdensome but light (1 John 5:3). To love Jesus means to keep His commandments (John 14:15). To live for Jesus must be our greatest purpose, to be in His presence our greatest joy (Philippians 1:21 2 Corinthians 5:8). The disciple of Jesus must be willing to give up anything and everything, even his or her own life, in service to Him. The person that loves Jesus values Him more than anything and anyone. To love Jesus means to treasure Him above all things and all people (Luke 14:26 16:13). As we grow in our knowledge of who Jesus is and what He has accomplished for us, our love for Christ will continually increase (2 Peter 3:18 Colossians 1:10). We love Jesus because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Much of what it means to love Jesus comes from understanding and appreciating what Jesus has done and is doing for us. Jesus did this and more by dying for us while we were still His enemies in order to make us His friends (Romans 5:8). Jesus said that there is no greater love than to lay down your life for your friends (John 15:13). The first step in loving Jesus is receiving Him as Lord and Savior. We receive Jesus by believing in Him and trusting that He died for our sins. It is God Himself who makes us spiritually alive and grants us the repentance and faith needed to embrace Jesus as our Lord and Savior (Ephesians 2:4–10 2 Timothy 2:25). The Spirit of God opens our eyes to behold the beauty of Jesus and opens our ears to hear and receive the good news concerning Jesus (Acts 26:18). The Spirit removes our metaphorical heart of stone and replaces it with a heart that loves Jesus (Ezekiel 11:19 2 Corinthians 5:17–18). The Holy Spirit overcomes our inborn resistance to God and draws us to Jesus (John 6:44). It is only when we are born again (regenerated) by the Spirit of God that our disposition toward Jesus changes (John 3:3–5). In fact, the Scripture describes humans as born in sin and naturally hostile to God (Psalm 51:5 Colossians 1:21). Receiving Jesus is not something that comes naturally to anyone (1 Corinthians 2:14). To love Jesus means, first of all, to receive Him (John 1:12–13). How does a person love Jesus? What does it mean to love Jesus?
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