And this is love, that we walk according to His commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

2 John 6

 

From time before the creation of the world, through every moment of existence, and until all of God’s design is complete and perfected, the singular thread that runs through and forms the structural strength of it all is God’s love. He loved each and every one of us before any of our ancestors waked on this earth. God continues to love us through every breath that we draw; and all people who come to accept His love will continue to experience it for a period of time that is immeasurable in its length and in its breadth.

 

God’s righteous order for living is based upon His love for us. He asks us to care deeply and to give greatly to others in His name and for His sake. For when this happens, people have an opportunity to see the true character of God in terms that are accessible and understandable. Thus, they get God’s love delivered by someone who is clothed in skin. Christ wants us to enter into a civil and a respectful form of engagement and discourse with each other; He desires for us to approach rather than avoid, and He leads us to care for others regardless of what they may look like or how they might act toward us.

 

People, when we are operating out of our own devices, tend to gather together in order to gain power and control. We tend to oppress and destroy. Christ brings us together in His will, to follow His way, and to share His love so that people’s lives and their souls can be cared about and for. The Lord asks that I do the following things. Think of someone who I struggle to like, and pray for Christ’s love to come through me to that person. Consider someone who I should love greatly but am struggling with, and take God’s love to that person. Open the back corner of my heart to Christ, and allow His love access to that area of myself that I have been hiding and withholding. From the beginning of every day to the end of all days, God wants to walk with us with His loving arm around us, His love filling our hearts, and that love spread into His creation.