Today’s passage: 2 John 1:5–6
Focus verse: As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (2 John 1:6)
In John’s second letter, he continues to repeat themes from his first one. He tells the lady chosen by God the same things he writes to his first audience.
This is not a new command he gives her, but an old one. It’s a command given from the beginning: to love one another. And in love, we obey Jesus’s commands. The chief one is to walk in love.
We’ve already covered love at length, addressing it in over half of our readings. Here are the primary messages about love:
- Day 8: Love Your Brother and Sister
- Day 9: Love Not the World
- Day 16: Love One Another
- Day 17: What Love Is
- Day 18: Jesus’s Two Commands
- Day 21: The Love of God
- Day 23: No Reason to Fear
- Day 24: He First Loved Us
We don’t need to repeat these lessons here, but we can consider 1 Corinthians 13, the Bible’s go-to chapter about love.
The world often uses the word love incorrectly and practices it wrongly. We can’t love a thing or an activity. We can only love God and love others. Paul gives us a most helpful list of characteristics of how to walk in love.
Love:
is patient
is kind
is not envious
is not boastful
is not proud
is not rude
is not self-seeking
is not easily angered
forgets the mistakes of others
does not delight in evil
rejoices with the truth
protects
trusts
hopes
perseveres
never fails
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NIV)
When we live out this list, we love one another as John (and others) command us to do.
Questions:
- How do we misuse the word love?
- What must we change to love according to what the Bible says?
- Which of these characteristics of love do we excel at?
- Which of these characteristics of love do we need to give more attention to?
- How can we better walk in love?
Discover more about loving others in Romans 13:8 and Galatians 5:14.
Tips: Check out our tips to use this online Bible study for your church, small group, Sunday school class, or family discussion. It’s also ideal for personal study. Come back each Monday for a new lesson.
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Discover practical, insightful, and encouraging truths in Love One Another, a devotional Bible study to foster a deeper appreciation for the two greatest commandments: To love God and to love others.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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