2 John 1:6 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.

John is sometimes called “The Apostle of Love,” because he talks about it so much. In his first letter he famously said, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10) Here he flips it around, in a sense, and says that our walking in obedience to God is love. It’s hardly surprising that he would say this, because he was the one who recorded Jesus as saying, “If you love me, keep my commands.” (John 14:15) Love is indeed closely tied to emotion, but if we let the emotion take precedence, the love itself quickly becomes a cheap counterfeit. Don Francisco wrote a song with the powerful line, “Love is not a feeling, it’s an act of your will.” I think that puts it very well. Feelings invariably follow, but decision is at the root. Jesus didn’t “feel like” going to the cross, as His prayers in Gethsemane make very clear. Parents will tell you, if they’re honest, that there are moments when they feel like knocking their kids across the room, and it’s not that they don’t love them. Good parents don’t follow through with that, but you get the idea. If we obey God only when we feel like it, then we don’t really love Him. That would be narcissism, and narcissism never results in genuine happiness. That’s why the devil promotes narcissism in every way he can, because he doesn’t want us to be happy! He wants us to “have a good time” while we’re disobeying God! God always wants the best for us, and every one of His commands is to that end. Loving Him by walking in obedience to Him is the only truly logical course!

I seem to have had something of an instinctual understanding of this. I make that claim because I clearly decided to love my wife, and that has held up for over 55 years. I had already been attracted to her, but 11 days after our first date we were engaged, and just over three months later we were married. God’s amazing grace was certainly involved in that, because I had no idea of the many, many ways we fit together emotionally, spiritually, and intellectually, but it has definitely worked out. And that’s not to say that we always “obey” each other! We were at a similar place spiritually at that point, which is to say, not very mature, and we haven’t always grown at the same speed, but we have supported, encouraged, and admonished each other along the way. I don’t hesitate to point to our relationship as an example for others to follow. That said, my obedience to God hasn’t been perfect by any means, and I’m still learning there. I do love Him, more than I love anything else, even including my wife, but that love won’t be perfected until I stand before Him in heaven. I look forward to that day!

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for Your love, and for growing my ability to receive and grasp it. May I respond to Your love more and more fully, more and more accurately, so that it may flow unhindered through me, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!