On Abiding in Jesus and Love…

By Stephen Ahn, Outreach Worker at Kingston-Galloway

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”John 15:12-13 (ESV) 

As I read John 15, I thought to myself, “Am I bearing fruit in my life as I abide in Jesus? Am I saturating myself with the truth found in Scripture? Can I say that I have deep joy in my relationship with Christ?” It is true that as an outreach worker, I am at the front lines of poverty working with the kids and youth of the community. Work is a mission field as I focus on sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ through my words, actions and thoughts. However, there are times when I am directing all of my energy and strength to running programs that I end up neglecting my own spiritual discipline, which are the very moments when I feel the most weary and tired.

If I am to abide in Jesus, I must abide in his words and commandments. This can only be accomplished through the daily reading and reliance upon the Bible. Now Jesus says something that is absolutely profound: “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love”. Just as Jesus abides in the love of the Father, I am able to abide in the love of Christ. Moreover, as I abide in the love of Christ, I am in turn abiding in the love of the Father as well. Thus, as I abide in Jesus, I am also abiding in the love of the Father. Similarly, I am to show this same love to the kids and youth of Kingston-Galloway. As Jesus commands, the Christian mandate is to love one another as he has first loved us through his death and resurrection on the cross. And this is the very Gospel that I am to spread and share as a disciple of Christ.