“Love And Obedience…!”

“Love And Obedience…!”(I Jn. 5:1-3).
We lift up our eyes to the mountain and say, “LORD, thank you for a new day; and for all the help that will be our portion today.
My people say “your hater will beat your dog if he does not see you.” Again it is said, “The child who asks to know what killed the father wants to die the same way the father died.”
In fact, it is difficult to love a child if you hate his father; in the same way you cannot love a father but hates his son – especially if that child is the father’s heartbeat.
The bickerings, animosities and rivalries among Christians is often appalling. Worst of it is that it is usually alarming amongst Christians of the same denomination!
Schism has never happened within a peaceful context. Schism and breakaways within the Christian family has always happened when in the face of disagreement one faction says, “If you don’t like it, you can leave,” or when the other faction says, “We will rather leave.” We cannot say any of the above is done with love or in love.
In three verses for our reflection today, John writes, “Everyone who believes that Jesus is Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…”
The first thing is to believe that Jesus is the Christ. You cannot be born again if you do not believe that Jesus is the Messaiah. To believe that Jesus is the Messiah should be induced by love for God; for “everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God”(I Jn. 4:7b). Believing that Jesus is the Christ and loving the father and his child.
“Love your neighbour as yourself is becoming a worn out cliché in Christian circles. True practice of love for the children of God is when we love God and carry out his commands. And the practice of love for God is to obey his commands. They are not burdensome because love is not a load. It is not a load because of the new birth. Whoever is “born of God by faith is enabled by the Holy Spirit to obey.”
The born again child of God is an overcomer. And an overcomer is one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God(I Jn. 5:5). Do you…?
Weekend prayer: Holy Spirit keep working in me to express true love for the children of God by loving and obeying the commands of the father and his Son. Amen!
Have a blessed weekend! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.