Love is the cornerstone of the Christian faith… Loving God and others. John has been making this abundantly clear throughout his writings. He emphasizes it again with in this brief epistle. It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 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 (4-6). Walking in truth is connected to loving; and loving is connected to walking in obedience.
The walking imagery reminds me that the love and obedience John writes of is active, energetic requiring effort on our part.
But as I read on the love John speaks of is not thoughtless or naïve either. …many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work (7, 9-11).
Clearly John is not advocating being mean to people who are deceiving others with false teaching but neither should we show them the same level of hospitality and love we would for a fellow believer. If this lady were to house one of these deceivers for a few nights, then she is supporting their work and ‘ministry’ in her community, which might result with people in her town or home being deceived. Naïve love like this is not warranted under the command of love because we do not want to advance deceptive and wrong teachings about God and truth.
As I ponder this, I believe John is advocating thoughtful love. Thoughtful is not a mechanism to get myself out of loving people, but rather the application of spiritual wisdom so that my love bears godly fruit.
Jesus, Father, Holy Spirit, now I pray for a heart big enough to truly love others as You, Oh God, would have me love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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