1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;
2 For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.
3 Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father,
and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father,
in truth and love.
4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.
5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.
In this letter to the CHURCH from the great Apostle John, who is exiled on Patmos where he wrote this from, he gives the Church these instructions and reminds us of a COMMANDMENT from GOD the FATHER.
The commandment is that we WALK IN TRUTH.
The instruction? That we love one another.
Now, this isn't always easy. Some of us are not very loveable. we have some really difficult personalities to deal with, or maybe someone's mannerisms really just cause you to stand back... Everyone goes through these things and knows somebody like that. BUT........... We can still have love for that one because JESUS loved them and died for them just as much as HE died for YOU! When you realize how much GOD LOVES THAT PERSON, you then will be able to accept that person as one of the family. We are not talking about love here as in loving your wife, but as having fellowship with another believer and accepting them for who they are: AN HEIR and JOINT HEIR,, EQUAL HEIR and PARTAKER OF THE PROMISES OF GOD, with JESUS!!!!!
That's pretty big! Downright HUGE!
So, in his opening of this letter of instructions to the believers of the church, JOHN is instructing us to love the unlovely and do even as Jesus did and for the same reason, because HE LOVED US FIRST and totally!
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