What does it actually look like to love God? First John chapter five brings that question into sharp focus. It is not just about saying the right words or showing up on Sundays. It is about love that leads to honor, and honor that leads to obedience. And according to John, that kind of life leaves visible proof.

John uses the phrase "by this we know" eight times in this short letter. He is not being repetitive for the sake of it. He is building a case. He wants believers to have no doubt about where they stand.

Here are a few of the markers he points to:

• "By this we know we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments." - 1 John 2:3
• "Whoever keeps His word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we know that we are in Him." - 1 John 2:5
• "By this we know love, that He laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." - 1 John 3:16
• "By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us His Spirit." - 1 John 4:13

The point is simple. A genuine relationship with God produces visible fruit. It is not invisible. It shows up in how you live, how you treat people, and how you respond to His Word.

"By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments." - 1 John 5:2

You cannot separate love for God from love for people. When you truly love God, that love overflows onto everyone around you. It is not something you manufacture. It just spills out.
Think about someone in your life who genuinely loves God. Chances are, you can feel it when you are around them. Their love for Him pours out onto others naturally. That is exactly what John is describing here.

First John 5:3 says His commandments are not burdensome. That is an important detail. God is not asking for something impossible or crushing. He summed up the entire law with two things: love God with everything you have, and love your neighbor as yourself.

But there is a difference between reluctant obedience and joyful obedience. Consider the story of Jonah. The wind obeyed God. The fish obeyed God. The plant obeyed God. The worm obeyed God. The only one in the whole story who dragged his feet was the prophet himself. And even when he finally went to Nineveh, he did it with a bad attitude.

Paul addressed this same idea when he wrote about giving:
 "Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." - 2 Corinthians 9:7

That principle applies to more than finances. God loves when we live cheerfully in obedience to Him, not just when we give cheerfully in an offering.

The word translated "obey" in verse two actually carries the idea of observing the way someone does something, and then doing it that way. It means paying attention to what matters to someone and honoring it.

In marriage, this looks like learning what your spouse values and doing things their way, not because you are forced to, but because you love them. It might be something as small as where the ketchup goes in the kitchen or how the pillows are arranged on the bed. The specifics do not matter. The heart behind it does.

The same is true with God. Are we giving Him what He will merely tolerate, or are we giving Him what He truly wants? Obedience rooted in love asks that question and answers it with action.

"For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world, our faith." - 1 John 5:4

Overcoming does not always look like what the world calls winning. In the year 320 AD, forty Roman soldiers were sentenced to death for refusing to deny Christ. They were stripped of their clothing and sent out onto a frozen lake to die. Tubs of hot water were placed on the shore as a temptation. All they had to do was deny Jesus and they could live.
They refused. They prayed together, worshiped together, and encouraged one another as they froze. And then something unexpected happened. One of the soldiers standing guard on the bank stripped off his own clothes and ran out to join them, declaring that he now believed in Jesus.

Their leader said, "Nothing is dearer or of greater honor to us than Christ our God."

That is not what victory looks like by the world's standards. But their faithfulness preached louder than any sermon. You never know who is watching what you are going through and being moved by it.

John takes time in verses six through eight to address false teaching about the identity of Jesus. Some claimed He was only a man on whom a divine anointing temporarily rested. John pushes back hard. He points to three witnesses that testify to who Jesus truly is.

• The water. At His baptism, Jesus had no sin to repent of. He was baptized to identify with us. And His Father spoke from heaven: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
• The blood. Jesus laid His life down willingly. Death had no power over Him. His sinless blood was shed to purchase our redemption. When He died, the temple veil, sixty feet high, thirty feet wide, and four inches thick, was torn in two from top to bottom. God was declaring that nothing would separate Him from His people any longer.
• The Spirit. Jesus promised that when the Holy Spirit came, He would testify of Him. The Spirit of truth continues to bear witness to who Jesus is and who we are through Him.

"And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son." - 1 John 5:11

Every religion on earth, except Christianity, operates on the idea that you earn your way to God. Christianity alone says God came to you. Eternal life is a free gift. It is not a reward for good behavior.

"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 3:23

But mental agreement is not faith. Simply nodding along to the idea that Jesus is the Son of God is not the same as trusting Him with your life. Real faith involves acknowledging your sin, recognizing your need for a Savior, and surrendering to Him. The proof of that faith shows up in the way you live.

John wrote this letter to believers so they could know with confidence that they have eternal life.

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life." - 1 John 5:13

God did not leave us guessing. He gave us His Word so we would know. The markers John has laid out throughout this letter, love for God, love for others, obedience to His commands, the presence of the Holy Spirit, these are not hoops to jump through. They are the natural evidence of a life that has been genuinely transformed.

As Leonard Ravenhill once said, "Most Christians pray to be blessed. Few pray to be broken." Brokenness before God is what produces the kind of heart that truly wants to obey Him, not out of obligation, but out of love.

This week, choose one specific area of your life where your obedience to God has been reluctant or half-hearted. It might be in how you treat a family member, how you engage with Scripture, or how you respond to something God has been asking of you. Commit to doing that one thing cheerfully, not because you have to, but because you love Him.

Ask yourself these questions as you reflect:

• When I look at my life honestly, do I see the markers John describes? Do I love God, love others, and desire to obey His Word?
• Is my obedience to God joyful, or am I more like Jonah, going through the motions with a bad attitude?
• Am I giving God what He truly wants from me, or just what I think He will tolerate?
• Is there someone in my life who needs to see my faithfulness right now, even if what I am going through does not look like victory?

Love, honor, and obey. Not as a burden, but as a response to a God who loved us first, came to us, and gave us everything.