¹⁹We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him ²⁰in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. ²¹Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; ²²and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

If our love must be “in deed and truth” (vs. 21), then how can we know if our deeds are genuinely loving and not the false love Paul denounced?

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing. (1 Cor. 13:3)

The answer is found in our own conscience. We know in our hearts (our inner thoughts and conscience) what are our true intentions. Indeed, sacrifices can undoubtedly be made for selfish reasons, not out of love for others. Sacrifice brings some degree of accolades and praise from others, which can stroke the ego. But sacrifice done for that purpose has little value and is not love at all. Genuine love requires both the outward sacrificial actions and the inner intention of making those sacrifices.

While others see the outward evidence in our actions, we know the evidence in our own hearts. If our conscience leaves us without any guilty feelings, and the desire for self-adulation or benefit is absent from our motive, we can be assured of our good intentions. Notice the text doesn’t say if we do good, we will feel good about ourselves. Instead, John says the absence of self-condemnation and guilt is the indicator. We may have no feelings at all about our good deeds, and that is a good thing. We must never look for any kind of euphoria, for that would only prove that our sacrifice is to gain a feeling. This misconception of sacrificial giving was captured in a charity organization’s marketing campaign, “Give generously, because you will feel good about yourself.” That is not love; that is giving with the ulterior motive of gaining a better self-image as a benevolent person.

The confidence of a clear conscience in our act of sacrificial love puts us on confident ground before God. He sees the clean slate in our actions and in our hearts. This is what inclines Him to hear our prayers and requests. Loving others in deed and truth pleases God. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.

So we discover that a key to answered prayer is living a sacrificial life of love, for this models the sacrificial love of God for us. We can pray with confidence out of a clear conscience that we are living as He desires us to live.

PRAYER: Lord, again I ask, open my eyes to one person today who needs my love.