Perfecting Love Produces Joyful Obedience (1 John 5:1-3)

SPIRITUAL DIARY

 

My Worship Time                  Focus:  Perfecting Love produces joyful obedience.

 

Bible Reading & Meditation             Reference:  1John 5:1-3

 

            Message of the verse:  “1 ¶  Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and whoever loves the Father loves the child born of Him.  2  By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and observe His commandments.  3  For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. (NAS95)  “¶  EVERYONE who really believes that Jesus is the Christ is himself one of God’s family. The man who loves the Father cannot help loving the Father’s sons.  2  The test of our love for God’s family lies in this question—do we love God himself and do we obey his commands?  3  For loving God means obeying his commands, and these commands of his are not burdensome.  (Phillips)

            Verse one is talking about how to know if someone is a true child of God, and that means that a person has to believe that Jesus is the Christ (Messiah), is part of God’s family.  John goes on to talk about the theme he has been writing about, and that is love, for a person who confesses Jesus as the Christ must show that he is truly in the family of God by loving, loving God and loving God’s people.  He goes on in verse two to speak of another test of being in the family of God, and maturing in the love for the Father, and that is by loving the Word of God and obeying the Word of God joyfully.  In verse three he continues by saying that the love of God is keeping His commandments and then adds that His commandments are not burdensome.  As Dr. Wiersbe points out when writing about this verse that the person who wrote the 119^th Psalm had the correct attitude about this for in that Psalm the writer talks about loving God’s Laws and loving to keep them.  Paul wrote about giving and how it should be done joyfully, and living the Christian life should also be done joyfully.

 

            Spiritual Meaning for my life today:  Deep down in my heart I know that living the Christian life in obedience to God’s commandments will bring joy to my life, But one of the chief stumbling stones is the old nature and that old nature wants it’s own way and that way is always wrong.

 

The Word of God has been instructive and convicting to my heart today as I studied it.

 

My Steps of Faith Today:  Trust that the Lord will give me the desire and the where with all to continue to grow in His love, and to continue to joyfully obey His Commandments.