Jesus Centered Bible – questions and answers category goes through the questions given throughout the New Testament of the Bible I use and I give my answers and thoughts. Always, feel free to comment your thoughts and your own answers to these questions!

The question

What’s the difference, if any, between loving Jesus for who He is and loving Him for what He can do?

The answer

I’ve included this song, More Than Anything, because I heard it just a little while back and I was like, WHOA, yeah, we need to love and what Jesus for what He has ALREADY done, for who He IS, not what He can do for us. How selfish is that?

Even in our own culture today, this would be so selfish, yet that’s a reality we face as well.

What’s the difference?

If we only love someone for what they can do for us, is that actually love?

Jesus loves us and He doesn’t NEED us for anything. The only thing He needs us for is spreading the Gospel to build the Kingdom, but what good are we really if we only love Him for what He does and not who He is? We’re just out spreading the Good News without believing it in our hearts. Jesus is our Savior. He is the Son of God. Also, if we’re living this way – only loving Jesus for what He does and no who He is – this also correlates without how we feel about God and what we think of God. Perhaps we only sometimes believe in God and when we’re on the fence, hey, I’ll pray and I’ll read but… NO. That’s not what we should be doing.

God is always faithful. Jesus is always going to be the One we need. He is the way, the truth and the life. Enough said. We love Jesus for WHO He is, not WHAT He can DO.

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!”

John 14:6-7

EXAMPLE

Look at Simon. In BSF, we talked about Simon in Acts who was in awe at the POWER of Jesus but didn’t grasp the whole concept that power comes from believing wholeheartedly in Jesus – for who He is, what He has shown us, the truth behind everything He does and who created Him. Did Simon truly believe? For me, I’ve been on the fence. I want to believe that he did and I believe he wanted to. The hunger for power and a pumped up ego was just hard for him to overcome in those verses. This is just a 2000 year old example of what happens today. What if we think we want the power Jesus brings and gives us, but we’re not wholeheartedly trusting in Him to walk and talk with us throughout all our trials?

Love Jesus for WHO He is, not WHAT He can bring to you.

What do you think the difference is? Please comment!