{"id":15466,"date":"2026-07-28T00:00:49","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T07:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/?p=15466"},"modified":"2026-07-31T07:42:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T14:42:26","slug":"the-call-to-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/2026\/07\/28\/the-call-to-love\/","title":{"rendered":"The Call to Love"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 John 6\u00a06<\/sup><\/em>And this is love, in order that we may walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, in order that you should walk in it. <\/em><\/p>\n

The demonstrative pronoun this<\/em> is unclear but likely points to the purpose clause that comes next. John moves love from the realm of thought, attitude, or emotion to the realm of action and obedience. Love is shown in walking, a word often used in John\u2019s writings and the rest of New Testament for how a person lives. The purpose of love is to give us a good life by which we experience all God has purposed for us. God loves us and fills us with his Spirit in order that we might experience his love and blessings. Life is of better quality and meaning when we follow the way of love.<\/p>\n

A person demonstrates that he or she loves God by obeying God\u2019s commands. God\u2019s commands are not burdens for those who have consecrated themselves in full commitment and love to God. As Psalm 119 indicates, God\u2019s laws become blessings for those who love God and God\u2019s words. John uses the plural commandments<\/em> like for the many ways to live out the one command <\/em>to love. The whole law is summarized in the word love<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The command John reminds his readers about is not new. He did not invent it or come up with a slick and convincing theological argument. It was from the beginning<\/em> because it came from the one who was present at the beginning of creation (1 John 1:1). Love was God\u2019s plan from the moment the Word spoke creation into existence. God created humanity to receive, know, and show love. Our best experience in the walk of life is to obey the call to give of ourselves to God and others as expressed in Jesus\u2019 command to love.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2 John 6\u00a06And this is love, in order that we may walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, in order that you should walk in it. The demonstrative pronoun this is unclear but likely points to the purpose clause that comes next. John moves love […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotions","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15467,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15466\/revisions\/15467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acky4.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}