As we continue our study of 2 John, we pick up at verse 6. Under the direction and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle writes:
“And this is love: that we walk in obedience to His commands. As you have heard from the beginning, His command is that you walk in love.” 2 John 6
To “walk in love” brings many thoughts and pictures to our mind as to what that means, and ‘what does that look like’?. John described it well in a previous letter as he wrote: “Dear Friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is made complete in us. We know that we live in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:11-19)
To walk in love is to walk in the love of God. Perfect love. To have this perfect love within is to believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world, and to accept Him personally into our lives. This perfect love comes into our life through the Holy Spirit as we are born again. Then, as John said, we become like Him, we represent Him in this world as we walk in Him. He is in us, we have His perfect love within us, but our old sinful nature is still in us as well. Each day we make a conscious choice to walk in His love by acknowledging Him as Lord of our lives. We ask Him to fill us so completely with His love that all fear, anxiety, frustration, anger, resentment, bitterness, unforgiveness, self pity, lack, lust of the eye, harmful pride, harmful ego, bias thoughts, and anything that might be destructive be driven out by it.
Christ came to personally teach us how to walk in Love. His motives were always pure. He loved the lovable, and the unlovable unconditionally, He healed the sick, He provided when there was a need, He showed righteous anger when it was appropriate, He prayed about everything, He provided a finished work of grace and mercy so that in Him we will truly walk in God’s Love.
We are greatly, divinely loved, God’s Beloveds. It is our privilege to walk in that love, and to share that divine love to all, and with all, in our lives.
Poppa B.