1 John 5:3
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
We often here people say that we should talk more about the love of God. There are preachers who criticize others for being negative in their preaching. They like to say that we need to be more grace based in our preaching. On the surface this sounds good, but that statement alone is not Scriptural.
The love of God is more than just saying that God loves you. The love of God is more than saying that God loves you in spite of what you have done. Both of these statements are true, but God’s love is deeper than that. The verse above says that keeping God’s commandments is the love of God. Let me explain what that means.
First, it means someone must tell us what God’s commandments are if we are to keep them. You will never know what God’s commandments are unless someone clearly tells you what they are. That means if you are going to keep God’s commandments, you need someone to be as detailed about God’s commandments as they can be. Do you know what that means? That means someone is going to have to tell you what to do and what not to do. Friend, God’s commandments tell us what to say, how to dress, where we can go, how we are to do them and when we are to do them. Just saying that you need to obey God’s commandments is not enough. Someone needs to be as detailed as they can be when telling you what God’s commandments are if you are going to exemplify the love of God.
Second, it means that someone must tell us what happens if we don’t keep God’s commandments. I know, this is not what liberals want to hear, but if I’m going to love people with God’s love, then I must tell them what happens if they don’t obey His commandments. There is not much love when you won’t tell someone what will happen to them if they don’t obey God’s commandments. There are consequences for not obeying the commandments of God. God’s love is not only spelling out God’s commandments so you can obey them, but it is telling you what will happen if you don’t obey them.
Third, it means that someone must tell us when to keep God’s commandments. If God’s love is keeping His commandments, then you must know when those commandments are in affect. Every commandment has a time frame. If someone doesn’t tell you when to obey God’s commandments, then how can you demonstrate the love of God?
God’s love is more than just a feel-good feeling. God’s love is doing what God commands us to do all the time. Always remember that you are exemplifying the love of God when you obey what He tells you to do. For example, I’m showing the world God’s love when I go to church for every service. I’m showing God’s love by not watching the wrong things on television. I’m showing God’s love by not getting angry at people when they wrong me. I’m showing God’s love when I dress like the Scriptures teach. Every time you obey God’s commandments, you are showing God’s love to the world.
Are you showing the love of God to those around you? Do you obey God’s commandments, not just when you’re seen, but also when you cannot be seen? God gives us a simple definition of His love, and that is to obey His commandments. If you truly want to show God’s love to the world, then obey Him.