according to his commandments.
--2 John 1:6
What do I love? Who do I love? How do I prove it?
Love - real love, not a watered down sentimental version, or the overly-romanticized Hollywood depiction - compels the lover to action. As I wrote in a previous post - LOVE DOES: http://davidmstanleykineticlife.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-stumblers-walk-love-in-action.html)
There is a popular adage that when examined, really makes no sense at all. The saying goes: THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING. But pudding statically sitting in a bowl (as pudding does), offers no proof of anything. Pudding may look pretty. It may smell nice. It may be enticing. But it has proven nothing. (In pudding's case, it has not proven to be tasty.)
We tend to water things down. And the above saying is a watered-down version of a 14th century proverb that goes: THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING. Now that makes sense. The pudding's goodness or badness is tested-out when it is tasted. The PROOF comes when pudding does something (or technically in pudding's case, when something is done to it).
Enough of pudding... what's the point? Love, and in the context of 2 John, love for God, cannot be proven merely by words. When love just sits in the bowl it may look pretty. It may smell nice. It may be enticing. But until love does what it is meant to do, it has proven nothing. We might say, LOVE MUST BE TASTED TO BE TESTED.
We sometimes talk of our love for God. But it is just pudding in a bowl. Our love for God is proven in our actions. And throughout the New Testament we see and are told that true love for Jesus is lived-out in how we extend grace to people.
The Commandment John refers to in this letter is to love as Jesus loved. It is plural in the context, because love always does in a multitude of ways. Jesus put it this way:
Love - real love, not a watered down sentimental version, or the overly-romanticized Hollywood depiction - compels the lover to action. As I wrote in a previous post - LOVE DOES: http://davidmstanleykineticlife.blogspot.com/2017/07/a-stumblers-walk-love-in-action.html)
There is a popular adage that when examined, really makes no sense at all. The saying goes: THE PROOF IS IN THE PUDDING. But pudding statically sitting in a bowl (as pudding does), offers no proof of anything. Pudding may look pretty. It may smell nice. It may be enticing. But it has proven nothing. (In pudding's case, it has not proven to be tasty.)
We tend to water things down. And the above saying is a watered-down version of a 14th century proverb that goes: THE PROOF OF THE PUDDING IS IN THE EATING. Now that makes sense. The pudding's goodness or badness is tested-out when it is tasted. The PROOF comes when pudding does something (or technically in pudding's case, when something is done to it).
Enough of pudding... what's the point? Love, and in the context of 2 John, love for God, cannot be proven merely by words. When love just sits in the bowl it may look pretty. It may smell nice. It may be enticing. But until love does what it is meant to do, it has proven nothing. We might say, LOVE MUST BE TASTED TO BE TESTED.
We sometimes talk of our love for God. But it is just pudding in a bowl. Our love for God is proven in our actions. And throughout the New Testament we see and are told that true love for Jesus is lived-out in how we extend grace to people.
The Commandment John refers to in this letter is to love as Jesus loved. It is plural in the context, because love always does in a multitude of ways. Jesus put it this way:
I'm giving you a new commandment,
that you love one another just as I have loved you.
-- John 13:34
Lastly, it is a daunting directive - to walk according to his commandments, to love as Jesus loved. Frankly, I fail continually. And it is much easier to live a The Proof Is In The Pudding life than it is to give tastes. Allow me to leave you with two thoughts:
Thought #1: Love is typically not proven in huge leaps. Love is lived in baby-steps.
Thought #2: The more we love, the more we do. And the more we do, the more we love.
God, help me to love with a love that is tasted and proven to be like Jesus, rather than my norm of leaving it in the bowl.
For now...
D
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