Thoughts From 1John 2 - Part 2

7 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. 8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them. 1John 2:7-11

        Here's where the epistle of John starts getting weird. God makes sure what the authors are writing is truth but He uses their personality to say it. For example, Paul says that he wishes those people who teach circumcision wouldn't stop cutting. (think eunuch or Reek in GOT) Here, John, probably 90 years old maybe starts rambling or waxes poetically but says things like "I'm not writing you a new command" followed by "I'm writing you a new command." What is He talking about? I think that he is talking about loving your neighbor which isn't necessarily mentioned in the 10 Commandments, but when Jesus summarizes the commandments into two - Love God and love your neighbor - we see it may not be in there but it's all throughout there.

       Going back to the previous verses, he says that the way to know that you are truly saved is to be obedient to what God is telling you. God is telling you to love people, even your enemies, and that's how Jesus lived His life too, so if we are truly believers, we need to be doing that. In the world where there is so much hate for Muslims, wokeness, Democrats, terrorists, illegals, Trump, Republicans, socialists, Fascists, ICE agents, racists, and the polarizing list goes on, we aren't supposed to join in on that. Yes, we are to hate the evil one who is behind all this hatred and division, but we are to love the people seeing them as unfortunate pawns in the devil's schemes.

      Our posts on social media should be loving seeking peace - not division but reconciliation. We should wake up thinking - who can I love today and seek ways to show that love. And what is love? Commitment of my will to your needs and best interests regardless of the cost. It's considering other's needs above my own. How does that play out in this hateful and divided world we live in? Let's see today!