“This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
1 John 4:10

Thursday, July 2, 2009
1 John 5:1-5
Love through Obedience
In verse 3, John clearly equates love for God with obedience to his commands. At first glance, this might sound a bit like legalism to us – that there is some kind of standard of obedience God is looking for in my life in order to classify me as “one who loves God.” But this would equate to us having to essentially earn a place with God through our works. The point of this passage is quite the opposite. John is actually saying that true love for God is always fleshed out in real obedience to God, so much so that he can say “love is obedience.” However, to reinforce the fact that obedience is the result of love and not its precursor, he then says that God’s commands are not burdensome. Once we are transformed by God’s love and have a true love for God in our hearts, it is not nearly so often “work” to obey him, but rather the natural result of being born of God – therefore we are able to “overcome the world.” Thank God today for the freeing power of his love – that he really does capture our hearts and break the power of sin in our lives as we fall in love with him.

Prayer Starter:
Lord, thank you that obedience is not really work when I am I love with you, but merely the living out of what is in my heart. Help me to love you more as my life progresses, so that I may live more obediently than ever before.