Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15 NAS).

One night as I stood at my kitchen sink in Stoneboro finishing the supper dishes, my thoughts were following their own paths, flitting here and there. Then, rather absentmindedly, I whispered, “I love you, Jesus. I love you, Lord.”

Almost before I had finished speaking, a still small voice whispered, “If you love me, keep my commandments.”

I stopped scrubbing and asked softly, “Father, what commandment am I not keeping?”

Immediately, the voice came again, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

Then I remembered. Just before I had told the Lord how much I loved Him, I had been mentally criticizing my neighbor, telling myself I would never do and say some of the things she had done and said. While I had often engaged in this seemingly harmless pastime of mental criticizing, I’d never looked on it as breaking a commandment!

With new insight, I realized that God may judge my love for Him more by the thoughts and attitudes of my heart than by the words of love I speak to Him.

Father, help me remember that with you, my thoughts may speak louder than my words. Amen.

(Devotional from Homespun Faith, Reflections from the Seasons of Life, copyright 2014 Daisy Beiler Townsend. Available as paperback or ebook: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Xulon Press. Locally at Fresh Grounds, M & M Grocery, Leanna’s Books, Penn Alps in Grantsville, Maryland, or from me 724-373-8445 or donaisy@neo.rr.com.)