2 John
Bible Passage: 2 john
Loving One Another
What is the definition of love?
By definition in the English dictionary, love general means a tender affection towards another person, or a feeling of warm affection or deep affection, as for a parent, child or friend. In terms of actions, having love for another person could mean going out of one’s way to please or help that person, behaving favourably towards another.
In the church, we know loving our fellow brethren in Christ means to do things like taking care of their needs, helping them when they need, looking out for their physical and spiritual well-being, or even simply keeping them in our prayers.
And we know that we should love one another, because our Lord had first loved all of us…
A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love another…
~ John 13:34
In 2 John, elder John brings up another perspective on the meaning of love…
This is love that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that as you have heard from the beginning; you should walk in it…
~ 2 John 6
Here, he mentions that love is, not just to do acts of care and concern to others, but also to walk in the commandments of God. While we may show love to others by physical actions, we show our love to God by obeying and keeping His commandments. And this will add a new layer of our love towards others as well.
If you love Me, keep My commandments…
~ John 14: 15
If we do not walk in His commandments, then is our love complete?
If we have this kind of love, not only will we be more discerning in the truth, but when it comes to dealing with false teachers and their doctrines, I think we would be more concerned about the spiritual well-being of our brethren. This, to me, is true love for the brethren, which is something that I know I lack in greatly…
One Comment
Camelinaneedle
Love is always a tricky subject because, simply based off of our worldly/ earthly wisdom, so many people have different opinions about it, and I am no exception.
We all see and understand things differently no matter how similar we may seem at the end of the day.
Allow me to share a little something about myself.
When I love, I love like my father does; quietly, slowly and gently, and then aggressively, all at once.
And the strangest thing about love is (almost just like sin) nobody really has to teach you what it means to love. Nobody really has to define love for you. You learn to feel and accept it.
People love each other, just because.
We don’t choose the people we love. We just do.
There is so much to learn from the Bible, so much to last more than a lifetime. But sometimes, we don’t really have to question. We don’t really have to know all the reasons why.
God didn’t make a decision to love all of mankind. He just did because He is just, and at the beginning of it all, He created us out of love. And that in itself is sufficient, at least for me, to want to share this love I have been so blessed with, with the rest of the world, if I ever have the power to do so.
People don’t know that I love, or the extent that I love because I don’t show it. But people stay in my heart and in thoughts.
And losing my memory; forgetting people in particular, is my greatest fear of all.
Because at the end of the day, people really are the only living beings that matter, and the only ones who really can manifest love in its full measure (pets aside).
And if God had never intended to create people, the rest of His creation would be in vain.
So love can demonstrated and felt in various huge, dramatic and extravagant ways.
But at the same time, love is small and lingers, because it stems from the heart, and then fills all, inside and out.
So to the people who read the comments sections, even if I don’t know you at all, I will learn to love you, because love is the greatest gift of all, and is the one thing that truly is imperfectly imperfect.
Love, believe it or not, even if you’ve been bruised, wounded and beaten down, will never fail.
Just because.