🌹 If Ye Love Me — The Double Commandment of Charity
🌹 If Ye Love Me — The Double Commandment of Charity
📖 Why This Blog
In my last post, I wrote about charity as “the pure love as Christ” — not just like Him. A friend asked if this connects with Jesus’ words: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”
I believe it does. And not just in one way, but in two. Scripture often has layers — one in plain sight, the other whispering underneath.
💡 Two Meanings in One Saying
Written Commandments
Yes — if we love Him, we obey what He has already spoken. The Ten Commandments. The Sermon on the Mount. The Doctrine of Christ (2 Nephi 31). The call to repent, be baptized, and follow Him.Living Commandments
But read it again with new ears: If you love Me, you will keep (or guard, treasure, heed) the commandments I give you now. The living whisper of His voice through the Holy Ghost.
This is charity’s heart. Not just obedience to an old list, but responsive love to the Savior’s personal word.
📖 A Story to Illustrate
There was a woman who loved books. She spent hours at the library. One day she picked up a book written by a certain author — but it bored her so much she couldn’t even finish it.
Later, by chance, she began dating a man. Slowly, she came to know him — his character, his humor, his kindness, his soul. She fell deeply in love. And only afterward did she discover that this man was the very author of the “boring” book.
She hurried back to the library, pulled the book off the shelf, and began again. This time she couldn’t put it down. Every word leapt alive. It became the most precious book she had ever read.
What was the difference? She now knew the author.
Isn’t that how it is with the scriptures and the Savior? The Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Nemenhah — they may seem dry, complex, or even boring at times. But once we know Him, once His Spirit whispers in our hearts, every word becomes fire and life. The book no longer reads like a stranger’s writing — it reads like the voice of our Beloved.
📖 Scripture Witnesses
Bible
“If ye love me, keep my commandments … and I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter” (John 14:15–16).
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27).
Book of Mormon
“Charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever” (Moroni 7:47).
“Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do” (2 Nephi 32:3).
Doctrine and Covenants
“He that receiveth my law and doeth it, the same is my disciple” (D&C 41:5).
“Let thy bowels be full of charity … and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven” (D&C 121:45).
Nemenhah Records
“Behold, the Haymehnay whispers commandments into the soul, and those who treasure them, these are they who love Me” (Tsihohnayah Ahkehkthihm 13:45).
“See that ye love one another with that love wherewith I love you, for this is not likeness only, but it is my Spirit in you” (Mohrhohnahyah 8:22).
🌿 Why the Story Matters
To love Him is to know Him. To know Him is to hear Him. And once we know the Author, His book becomes alive.
Loving like Christ may keep us busy.
Loving as Christ transforms us — because His Spirit writes love into our hearts.
That is the difference between obedience out of duty, and obedience out of delight.
🙏 Closing Thoughts
“If ye love me, keep my commandments” is both past and present. It calls us to the scriptures and to the Spirit. But most of all, it calls us to know the Author.
Once we know Him, the Word is never boring again. It becomes living, breathing, full of fire. That is charity — the pure love as Christ.
💬 Have you had that moment, when a scripture suddenly opened because you knew Who was behind it? Share below — I’d love to hear.
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