1 John 2:3-8
Directional Love

We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.

Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.

New International Version

John's letter presents us with an uncomfortable combination of concepts: love and obedience. Our modern sensitivities about love think of mutual support, of unconditional acceptance, and of equality and respect for all persons. Obedience is too close to subservience, which has been too often abused in the name of love. In the spirit of justice, we should be on guard against those who would presume to use love as a way of exerting their will upon others.

The scripture supports our concept of a selfless, holy love. What we understand about the God's love are characteristics of patience, kindness, hope, and giving without the expectation of receiving, and we are to demonstrate those same characteristics as we love others as God has loved us. In truth, we recognize about ourselves that we can only live up to these standards of love as we allow God to live in us.

However, we should not confuse our love for other people with our love for God. We are right to treat every other person as our equal, made like us in the image of our Creator, but God is the Creator. God is not struggling to become, or wrestling with sin, or learning to let go of pride and self--God is holy and perfect, God is all-powerful and merciful, and God is the source of Love. We should treasure the thought that we have a friend in Jesus, but we should never let our friendship lessen our awe and reverence of His deity--we are compelled to obey.

At the same time, we miss the point just as much if we obey God only because God created the universe out of nothing, dresses every wildflower, and gives us every breath we take. We are overwhelmed and fearful when we try to fathom the infinite power and knowledge of God, but fear alone is not a sufficient response. We would be foolish not to obey the One on whom our next heartbeat depends, but an obedience based only on fear puts a heart-breaking distance between ourselves and our Lord.

The answer, John wrote, is to obey God out of love, and to love God by our obedience. When we think about it, our obedience is all we have that we ourselves can give to God as a sign of our love. God made any possession that we might choose to offer as a gift, and all the love we have in our hearts comes from God as the ultimate source. But God has allowed us to have our will, our ability to choose, so that we can choose to be obedient to God--or reject God. We cannot love God and treat God as an equal. We cannot love God as a gesture of self-preservation and appeasement. We certainly cannot love God and ignore God.

Love only works in specific directions between us and God. God loved us first with mercy. We must love God with obedience.