April 2, 2025

April 2    1 John 5

We can trust that Jesus' words and actions are true. There is an abundance of evidence to give us good reason to believe in Jesus. We also have our personal testimonies of how Jesus has changed our own lives.  We can be confident that we have become God's child when we put our faith in Jesus.

We say that we love Jesus, but how does this look in life?  Is it when we sing songs of worship that we show we love Jesus?  Yes, that is a demonstration of our love for the LORD. John gives us an even broader statement in how we show that we love the LORD. We demonstrate that we love Jesus when we obey his commands. In our human mind we think of the idea of commands as a bad thing because we don't like to be told what to do.  So, John makes it clear that his commands are not a burden. 

 In truth, the commands of the LORD are for our benefit and His glory.  Sometimes Christians can complain about the Christian lifestyle and all the fun things they are missing out on. I would say two things to that.  1.) Who actually said that something was a sin.  There are some things that man has declared a sin that the Bible does not state is sin.  We need to be clear that the command we are stating is truly from Jesus and not a tradition or other type of rule. 2.)  You are not truly missing out on anything if what you think you are missing out on is actually sinful.  Sin is deceptive and presents itself as good on the surface with no regard to outcome and consequences.  Following Jesus may seem difficult at times, and it feels like we are different than those around us; but you have to look forward to the outcomes. Following Jesus leads to good ultimate outcomes.  Following the ways of sin only leads to trouble and despair in the end.