2 John 1:1-6: a reflection

1The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those who know the truth, 2for the truth’s sake, which remains in us, and it will be with us forever: 3Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. 4I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father. 5Now I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

John writes to a church he loves, and at the heart of his brief letter is a simple but searching definition. He urges them to love one another, which is nothing new but the command they have had from the beginning. And then he defines what love actually is: This is love, that we walk according to his commandments. Love, John says, is not first a feeling but a walking, a living according to what God has commanded.

Notice how John grounds love. We tend to think of love primarily as an emotion, a warm feeling toward God or others. John locates it elsewhere: in obedience, in walking according to God's commandments. Love for God shows itself not mainly in feelings but in doing what he says; and love for others shows itself in acting according to his commands toward them. Real love has feet; it walks; it obeys. Feeling that never becomes obedient action is not yet the love John means.

That is a helpful correction to a sentimental view of love. If we claim to love God but do not walk in his commandments, our love is thin talk. And if we claim to love others but do not act toward them as God commands, the same. Love is proven not by how we feel but by how we walk. Examine your love by John's measure: not merely what you feel, but whether you walk according to God's commandments, toward him and toward others. Let your love be the kind that walks.

Lord, John defines love not as a feeling but as a walking: this is love, that we walk according to your commandments. Correct my sentimental notions of love. Where I claim to love you but do not walk in obedience, or claim to love others but do not act toward them as you command, show me that my love is thin. Give me love that has feet, that walks and obeys. Let my love for you and for others be proven not by feeling alone but by how I live.