2 John 1:6 AMP
[6] And this is love: that we walk in accordance with His commandments and are guided continually by His precepts. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, that you should [always] walk in love.
Most people's definition of love is all about the physical. They interpret love from the narrow lens of what they get, or how another person makes them feel. Whilst there is some truth to how love can be deduced from what you get, the foundation to the proper understanding and application of love is to know God, who is the definition and personification of love. You can deduce love from all He has done for us, such as sending His own son to die on the cross for our sin, but it is because of His love that He did not see anything as too big for Him to give up for us. He gave all He did because it is His nature so to do. For the one who belongs to the world, love has to be what I get from you, and how you make me feel. Whether it is pretence or hypocrisy, I just get carried away with the size, intensity or frequency of the gift that I do not bother auditing the motives. Why do I do the things that I do?
We read from the verse above that John, the writer, is speaking to people who share the same faith as he. The book lays these people out as 'the elect, and all who know and understand the truth'. That distinction is very important. You cannot demand allegiance from someone who is not your citizen. You cannot command obedience from someone who is not subject to your territorial supremacy. That is why the verse above will emphasize God's instructions to those who are His children as commandments. We have willingly submitted to and embraced His authority over our lives. We take guidance from Him on a daily basis. We obey His leading and direction over our lives, so that we can enjoy all the benefits of citizenship that God offers. He wants to guide, because He knows the end from the beginning, and no one yet has come to fully trust God and then was disappointed.
Again, it has to be noted that God will not force Himself on me, or go against the exercise of my freewill. The command of God for me has remained the same through all generations: LOVE. That is the expression of the person of God. That is who He is, before you even get access to what He is and gives. You find 2 words "commandment" and "walk" appear twice each in the verse above. I have to know that for my life to be acceptable to God, there is a walking out that must give proof to how and what I hear. If I hear right, it means I am able to walk right. If I don't hear right, it is likely I will make a mistake. God is also not like shifting shadows, saying one thing today and the opposite tomorrow. What He called sin under Adam is still sin under Judas. He does not hide his standard. Now that I know them, what decisions do I need to make to ensure my life is patterned after these standards? God will not demand from me that which He has not first supplied grace for. God's time of favour is here.
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