I love how this chapter starts off.  

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. (1 John 5:1)

John is saying if I believe I am born of God that I love Jesus as well. I know there is a lot more to this statement but knowing that I believe that Chris is born of God allows my faith to continue to grow. Knowing this is so impactful to my faith because I can really see and feel how much God loves me and cares for me.

Another major factor is that we have to keep the commandments that God has given us which means we have to be in the Word to know what those commandments are. This can be a challenge in my life to keep all of his commandments. The first one that comes to my mind is to “Love my neighbor as myself”. Loving when I don’t want to love, loving when my heart is not full of the God’s Word. Johns tells us that his commandments are not burdensome. We just have to have faith in God’s Word.

I know that at times I can feel that burden based on a given situation. God gives us his love and we should love others in the same way. John’s says “For whatever is born of God overcomes the World.” It’s hard to overcome the World today due to our feeling and thoughts. I have to look at how Jesus lived his life and how He walked by faith by loving his neighbors as himself. We have the same challenge to love one another.  Verses 3 and 4 state that his commandments are not burdensome and that we will have victory because of our faith.

Verse 5 states that “who is he who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God?”

 Verse 7 gives us the answer to this very important question. There are three that bear witness in heaven: The Father, The Word, and The Holy Spirit, and these three are one. John goes even further than that.  He states that three bear witness on earth: “the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one”. If fills my heart with joy to be able to see that heaven and earth agree with each other.

John closes this chapter with a profound statement: He tells us as little children, keep yourselves from idols. We have to determine what idols are in our lives and stay away because we know that as the Son of God, Jesus has given us an understanding that we may truly know him.