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Every time Bill left home, he always kissed his wife and said, “I love ya, honey.” One day, she said to him, “Honey, if you really love me, why don’t you wash the windows, or cut the grass. Suddenly Bill realized that just saying the words “I love you” was not enough. His wife needed him to show his love by the things he did for her. That’s what the Apostle John tried to get across to us when he wrote in 1 John 3, “Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other, let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and He knows everything. Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.” Both Jesus and John make it clear that we become children of God by faith in Christ’s atoning sacrifice for us; but the evidence of our relationship with God is our love and obedience toward Him and the practical ways we show love to one another.
