How do they know I love them?

You've seen Enchanted, right?
I hope so.
It's a majorly cute movie. Imagine a cartoon disney princess coming to real-life. Imagine her prince pursuing her to Manhattan.

That about sums it up.
On a tangent, how neat would it be to act like a cartoon disney princess in real life? Answer: majorly neat.

I was reading today, and this song came to mind (albeit a bit cheesy, I admit, it's cute and fun. And I'm sorry that you have to go and pause my music player to watch this. Extra clicking. Oh my. Do some finger exercises; it usually helps.):





What was I reading that made this song come to mind?

Well, I was thinking about St. Patrick, and his story {If you want a refresher, see history.com: who was st. patrick? or wikipedia's bio of Patrick} He was a great missionary, and he gave a wonderful example of how to show love.

I happened upon this passage:

1 John 5:1-4:

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well.   

This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands.  

In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 

I was floored.

So how do I know I love others? Not gooshy love, of course, but Biblical love?


God makes it simple. (no crazy acrobatics or choreography needed)
I show love by obeying Him. Obedience sounds tough, but God promises that His commands are not burdensome.

I've seen how true that bolded statement is. There's a prevalent lie that obedience is some sort of horrible martyrdom with zero fun.

HA!
Do you know how much joy and peace is found in obeying God?

Supercrazyawesome-joy.
Utter fulfillment.
No worries.

(bad things still can happen, of course. It rains on the righteous and the unrighteous. But the difference is in from where you derive your comfort/how you handle it. I could wax on about "why bad things happen to 'good people'." But I won't, because that's best saved for another long post.)


Happy Friday!