That My Joy Might Remain In You

“These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full. This is my commandment, that ye love one another, as I have loved you.” These words Jesus spoke to His disciples right before He was about to leave them and go where they could not follow. From this point on, they would no longer be able to enjoy His physical presence among them. But He did not leave them comfortless. Jesus gave His disciples and us a way to invite Him back into our lives. When we love one another as Jesus loves us, then the pure love of Christ will fill us with His Joy, and as long as we continue in that love, His Joy will remain in us. The same John who wrote down the Savior’s words would later go on to describe this process: “Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4: 7-12). God is love. He is with us every time we choose to love as He would love. He dwells in our hearts when we have love in our hearts, and when his love is perfected in us, that is when His joy remains in us. When the Savior draws near, we are filled with His love, and when we are filled with His love, the Savior draws near. If we are struggling to feel the Lord’s hand in our life, then we need to try a little harder to love one another, and the moment that we do, we will feel His presence. I know that God wants us to fill our hearts with His love so that He can always be with us, and that His joy might remain in us.