For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.
John was one of Jesus's twelve closest disciples, and later in life he wrote this letter to Christian communities wrestling with false teachers who claimed you could have a spiritual relationship with God while living however you liked. John's response is direct: real love for God isn't just a feeling — it shows up in how you actually live, specifically in keeping his commands. He is not saying obedience earns God's love; he is describing what genuine love looks like from the inside. Then he adds something important: God's commands are 'not burdensome.' This was a deliberate pushback against the idea that following God is a crushing, joyless obligation.
God, I confess that following you sometimes feels heavy — like a performance I'm barely keeping up. Remind me today that your commands come from love, and are meant for love. Help me obey not to earn your favor, but because I actually trust you. Lighten what I've made heavy. Amen.
We live in a time deeply suspicious of love that comes with requirements. We've been trained to hear 'if you love me, you'll obey me' as a red flag — a sign of control, manipulation, an unhealthy dynamic. So when John says love for God means keeping his commands, it can land wrong. But think about someone you love deeply — a child, a partner, a close friend. When caring for them costs you something, do you experience that cost purely as a burden? Often, the sacrifice feels like the most natural expression of what's already true in you. John is pointing at exactly that. Obedience isn't what earns God's love — it's what love does when it's real. But then there's that last phrase, which deserves to sit with you: 'his commands are not burdensome.' If your faith feels like a weight that's slowly crushing you — a joyless performance of obligation — it's worth asking honestly whether what you're carrying is actually what God gave you, or something else you've added along the way. The God John describes doesn't deal in crushing weights. If it's become crushing, something may have gotten mixed in that wasn't his to begin with.
John says love for God is shown through obedience — but how do you distinguish between obedience that flows from genuine love and obedience that comes from fear or the need for approval?
Is there a command or teaching of God that feels burdensome to you right now? What do you think is underneath that feeling?
Some people argue that connecting love with obedience is inherently controlling or transactional. How would you respond to that honestly — does it trouble you, or does it ring true to your experience?
How does the way you follow or fail to follow God's commands affect the people closest to you — your family, your friends, your community?
If you took seriously the idea that God's commands are genuinely not burdensome, what would you do differently in how you approach your faith this week?
And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.
Deuteronomy 6:5
If ye love me, keep my commandments.
John 14:15
And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.
2 John 1:6
If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:10
Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.
Revelation 22:14
And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Romans 8:28
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Matthew 11:30
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
John 14:21
For the [true] love of God is this: that we habitually keep His commandments and remain focused on His precepts. And His commandments and His precepts are not difficult [to obey].
AMP
For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.
ESV
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome.
NASB
This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
NIV
For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
NKJV
Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
NLT
The proof that we love God comes when we keep his commandments and they are not at all troublesome.
MSG