“But whoever keeps his word, God’s love has most certainly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him:”

If we are obedient and seeking to walk in holiness of life, then we can know we belong to the Lord and are in His family. The family likeness is seen in our life as we seek to conform to the image of Christ and be like Him. We are keeping the word of the Lord. That means we are searching the Scripture, reading it and putting it into practice in our own life. We say goodbye to the things we want and the guilt of old sins that may be dogging our psyche, and hold on to the forgiveness of the Lord. As we obey His word so He comforts us.

We do not always keep His word, but we are seeking to do so. We keep a short account with God and confess our sins to Him and keep our relationship with Him clean and clear. We wait on His goodness to us every day and see the many tokens of His love and acknowledge them to Him. This lifestyle brings us peace with God and in our hearts.

Love for God is perfected in us as we are obedient to the Word. We cannot say we love God and are not getting better in personal holiness. We must walk worthy of Him and know therefore that we are in Him. This is our daily personal assurance, that we are truly the Lords, that we hold His word dear to us, so dear that we obey it.

We also keep our conscience clear, and walk worthily before the Father in heaven. It is still a reliable guide and will motivate us to do what is right and follow our God. There is such comfort in knowing His closeness and the warmth of His love.