“IF YOU LOVE ME, YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS” (Jn 14:15)

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (Jn 14:15), Christ has said.

Certainly, there is a difference between occasionally falling into sin through weakness and rising again through Confession, and habitually sinning without the slightest scruple.

Anyone who sins habitually and makes no effort to avoid offending God does not love Christ, even if he professes to love Him with his lips.

For example...

If you habitually engage in sexual relations outside of marriage, you do not love Him.

If you use abortifacient or artificial methods of contraception to avoid having children, you do not love Him.

If you avoid having children through natural methods without a serious reason or necessity, even though the method itself is not sinful, you do not love Him, because you are failing to fulfill the duty of procreation.

If you do not struggle against temptations and engage in sexual acts contrary to nature, you do not love Him.

If you constantly sin through impure thoughts or desires, you do not love Him.

If you live in a state of concubinage, you do not love Him.

If you fail to fulfill your duties as a father or mother, you do not love Him.

If you do not instruct your children in the love and knowledge of God, you do not love Him.

If you constantly fail to attend Mass on Sundays, receive the sacraments, or pray, you do not love Him.

If you neglect to educate yourself in your religion, you do not love Him.

If you are indifferent to the sufferings and needs of your neighbor, you do not love Him.

If you do not respect your parents and superiors, you do not love Him.

If you make a habit of attending immoral performances or watching immoral films, you do not love Him.

If you steal or take what does not belong to you, you do not love Him.

If you offend, insult, hurt, or harm others, you do not love Him.

If you slander or falsely accuse your neighbor, you do not love Him.

If you resent the good fortune of others or wish evil upon someone, you do not love Him.

If you do not believe ALL the doctrine He taught, you do not love Him.

If you make Christian morality relative and adapt it to suit your own tastes and passions, you do not love Him.

How many more “ifs...” could we list and add to the above! But the purpose is not to compile an exhaustive list; rather, it is to make a SINCERE examination of our hearts and consciences, to determine whether we truly love Christ from the heart, and not merely with our lips.

Our Lord Jesus Christ said:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons, and in your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness!’

“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house upon rock. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded upon rock. And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house upon sand. The rain fell, the floods came, the winds blew and battered that house, and it fell—and great was its fall.” (Matthew 7:21–27).