1 John 5

A relationship with the God of the Bible—the one, true God—is all about love. He loved us first by sending his Son to die so that we could be called children of God, and so we are. And then we love him in response to his love for us. I said yesterday that love is a choice; in this case, a choice to love God by doing what he says. This is laid out in God's law, which is summed up by loving God with our whole being, and loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Many will stop after that, though. They will tell you that Christian faith is all about the two greatest commandments, loving God and loving others. But they miss something so important. They make it sound like Christians love only because they have to. 

But that's not what we've been saying. And that's not what John is saying. That's why if you asked me to pick one verse in the whole Bible that sums up my relationship with God, I would choose 1 John 5:3. "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."

Keeping the two greatest commandments is central to our loving God. But don't miss that last sentence. "His commandments are not burdensome." Doing what God says is not a burden to those who love God. No! Those who love God delight to do what he says!

Do you ever feel like God just wants to ruin your life because he gave you a set of rules? Like being a Christian is just a bunch of dos and don'ts? Why doesn't John feel that way? It's not like God told him to do something different than he's telling you.

I think it's because John's love for God was a matter of his heart. It was not a definition of love that he was told he should have for God. Look at your own relationship with God. If you love him because people tell you you're supposed to do what he says, then pray and ask God to give you a heart like John's. Ask God to give you a heart of love for him that delights to do what he says.