Living Room Study

2 John

“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 v.6

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

As a young believer, I really wanted to honor the Lord in all that I did.  But when it came to dating relationships, I was unwilling to submit to the Lord.  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 an 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 of love.  Much of what passes for “love” in our society…even among Christians…is just plain fleshly lust & desire.  To be blunt, pre-marital sex is not love. 

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.

“Here is what love is: not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atonement for our sins.”  1 John 4:10

Just as Jesus loved us, we are commanded to love others.  True love says “I will honor the Lord by upholding the honor & reputation 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.

Blessings.

Steve Wiggins