1 John 5:3
[3] “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.”
John’s message throughout this epistle has been dominated by love. Love is the evidence of life. A dead man knows nothing, sees nothing, hears nothing and feels nothing. When we were lost, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. Because there was no life of God in us, there was no love of God in us.
This verse reveals the divinity of love, the deeds of love and the delight of love. God’s love is seen in the life of a believer when they joyfully keep his commandments. This means we keep his commandments with a smile, and not with a frown. We see it as an honor to serve him, not bondage. Have you ever seen an obedient saint who was miserable? I understand that someone who is miserably trying to obey God, is not one hundred percent obedient. However, the point I’m trying to make is that something is wrong when keeping the commandments becomes grief in our lives.
This means that the relationship is not what it should be. Someone, or something, has stolen the love for serving him. When you love someone, you see obeying or serving them, as an opportunity to make them happy. That is what you desire when you love them. Too many believers today are miserable, because they are more interested in making themselves happy, rather than making the Lord happy.
Keeping the commandments of a loved one is not only an opportunity, but it also becomes an obsession. A wife spends her life pleasing, caring, serving her husband, not with grief, but joy. Why? Because of love. Children who love their parents desire to obey their commandments, because they love them. Love will always remove the grief in obedience. How about you? Do you find it grievous to obey his commandments?