Love and Obedience

This relatively short study is a quick run through several Scriptures on Love, Obedience and being filled with God.

We’re going to be in John’s Gospel and His second letter. I love how he calls the recipient ‘dear lady’. This is going to be fun.

John 14:23

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. ²⁴ Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching.

Love = Obedience. Love and obedience = The Father and the Son coming to make their home with us.

2 John (It’s only 1 chapter)

⁵ And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. ⁶And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

Love is walking in obedience to His commands. His command is that we walk in love. Love is the only command. We love because we have been loved. Love is denying yourself and doing for another what is best for them. It’s thinking more highly of them than yourself. It’s in serving and being a blessing to others.

John 15:9-12

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

We are loved. We have been loved. We will always be loved. Love each other and you will remain in His love and his Joy will be in us and our joy will be complete.

Ephesians 3:14-19 (a prayer by Paul)

For this reason I kneel before the Father, ¹⁵ from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name. ¹⁶ I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷ so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸ may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹ and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Be rooted and established in love. With the Father and the Son and the Spirit who is our guarantee, we can be strengthened and have power with all the Lord’s holy people

• an aside here: you belong to a church somewhere, right? Because it takes more than one person to know and realize this –

to grasp how wide, long, high and deep is the love of Christ, which is, to be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.

Yes, he is able to do so much more, immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine, and his power is at work within us, so what can we ask or even imagine? For all the glory is His forever and ever.

Hang on to your faith. Grow your faith. It all really is True.