Walking in obedience and love

2 John 6  "And 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 sometimes a difficult concept to wrap our minds around.  It is hard to know definitively what is and is not love.  This can get even more confusing when we realize that there are different types of love.  The love one feels for their spouse is certainly different than the love one feels for their country. 

We know from Scripture that God is love.  Therefore, to know God is to know love.  But how can one be sure that they truly know God?  A true knowledge of God manifests itself in our inward and outward actions.  As John says in this verse, love is walking in obedience to His commands.  There are three important words to highlight in this statement:

1) Walking- implies action taken on our part.  Action can occur inwardly (such as changes in our thoughts) or outwardly (such as showing hospitality to others).
2) Obedience- this says that we obey God's commands and model our lives in accordance with His Word.
3) Commands- two things of note here.  First, in order to walk in obedience, we have to know God's commands.  There is no substitute for our own personal investment of time and energy in studying and learning God's Word.  Second, these aren't "requests" or "suggestions", these are commands.   If you call yourself one of His own, you have no choice but to follow His commands.

What John has instructed leads to love in two ways.  First, by truly following and obeying God and His commands, we show that we truly love Him.  Second, by walking in His ways, love manifests itself in our thoughts, words, and actions toward ourselves and others.