2 John 1

“And this is love: that we walk according to His commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: you must walk in love.”  2 John 6 (HCSB)

Funny, this devotional will be longer than the whole book of 2nd John!

As a young believer, I really wanted to honor the Lord in all I did. But I was unwilling to submit to the Lord when it came to dating relationships. My attitude problem brought me great trouble! I used to get so uncomfortable sitting through sermons on love & dating. I knew what the Bible said concerning the subject, but I continued to disobey God’s Word. I simply didn’t want to submit. I had my idea of what love was, and I wasn’t willing to accept God’s definition.

Steely Dan once sang, “The things that pass for knowledge, I can’t understand.”  I would say the same about love. Much of what passes for “love” in our society…even among professing followers of Jesus…is just plain fleshly lust & desire. To be blunt, pre-marital sex is not love. For believers, it is the opposite. It communicates this idea: “I know it offends God, and I know it makes you a partner in that offense, but I don’t care.”  

I remember a close friend sitting down and trying to discuss my sin issues, helping to lead me in the way of righteousness, so to speak. I knew he was right, but something deep inside kept telling me, “You’re in love! Listen to your heart because nobody understands you like me!”  Let’s just say it wasn’t God’s voice.

God created sex, and we are sexual creatures. But that doesn’t mean our carnal drives should override God’s Word. True love is not an overwhelming feeling or emotion that lifts us and carries us away from honoring the Lord. True love is just the opposite. It is walking according to His commandments, surrendering our desires, and making our flesh submit to His purposes.

“Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” 1 John 4:10 (HCSB)

Just as Jesus loved us, we are commanded to love others. True love says, “I will honor the Lord by upholding the honor & reputation of my Lord, my church, my partner, and myself.”

“Walking in love” means walking according to God’s commands. What’s more, confronting a sin issue and convincing a brother (or sister) to turn back to the Lord is not being judgmental. It is love in action. And it may just save a fellow believer from a load of trouble and shame.