II John 6 “And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.”

JUST OBEY

How do we show our Heavenly Father that we love Him? It’s simple – we obey His commandments. John tells us that in this short little letter. We just have to walk in God’s commandments. That shows Him how much we love Him.

TEACHING MOMENT

Your children are not always obedient, are they? Sometimes they deliberately disobey and other times they simply mess up without intentionality. How do you respond? As parents, we have to discipline our children. Why? Because we want them to learn to obey. We want them to obey without being told. We want them to obey without having to be watched. Doesn’t it bring you such joy, though, when you “catch” them obeying?

So how do we teach our children this principle of loving God by obeying Him? We can teach them this verse the very next time we catch them obeying. We can brag on them and praise them for being such an obedient child. We can tell them that we love them anyway, but when we see them obeying, our hearts are warmed and we just want to hug and kiss them.

God is so pleased when He “catches” us doing His Will. He loves to see us obeying. He is ready to pour out His blessings on us. Now, that is NOT why we should obey – to get something from God. It is nice, however, to know that we have pleased the Father through our obedience. God doesn’t necessarily reach down and give us an “at a boy.” But through His Spirit who lives in us, we will know He is pleased.

And this is so simple. We just obey His commandments. Which commandments? All of them. But before you panic and say, “I can’t do that” remember you don’t have to. The Spirit in you will guide you, if you will just surrender your stubborn will to His.

Now, go and obey. Be loved!