What Love Means: Exploring 2 John 6

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There have been many books, articles, blog posts, songs, and movies about the topic of love in recent years. Love seems to be a popular word among Christians and non-Christians alike. Some would even say we are in the “age of love.” But what does that really mean? What does the Bible say about love? There are many different types of love: agape, phileo, storge, eros, and so on. So what kind of love is John talking about here? The key thing to understand about John’s writings is that he has a high view of Christian community and relationships—this is why he uses words like brother (adelphos), friends (philos), and companions (koinonos). Love in 2 John 6 means something different than what we typically think of when we hear this word.

What Does Love Mean?

The Greek word for love in this passage is agapē. The word agapē refers to a deep, sacrificial love that is not felt towards just anyone. It is a love that is felt with close relationships such as family and friends – a love that is felt profoundly but not always easily. There’s a sense in which agapē is given to others before it is ever received back. Agapē is a love without expectation of return. It’s a love that is not selfish but instead is given to help and benefit others. Agapē is a love that seeks the best for the one loved, even if it means the love-giver experiences pain or sacrifice in the process.

What Does 2 John 6 Mean When It Says “Love One Another”?

In this passage, the easiest way to understand what John is telling us to do is to see what he’s telling us not to do. Specifically, he’s telling us not to let false teachers bring division and quarrels among the people in our churches. That is the opposite of loving one another. Loving one another means shunning false teaching and not allowing it to drive a wedge between believers. This means we must put other Christians’ interests above our own interests. We have to be willing to put aside our own desires for harmony in the body of Christ, even if it means we have to confront false teaching head-on. This is loving one another.

Loving as Shaping Our Relationships With Others

Love is something that should be felt and experienced in relationships. It’s something that is seen in our actions and is not just something we feel on the inside. So what does loving another person look like? For starters, it means we must be willing to serve one another sacrificially. It means we need to be willing to put aside our own interests for the other person’s benefit. It’s about giving and helping another person without expecting something in return. It’s about being willing to put the needs of others above our own needs. And loving others also means that we need to be willing to forgive others, even when they don’t deserve it. We also need to be willing to put our relationships with others above our reputation. Loving others means we have to be willing to stand up for and defend the people we love – even if it means losing friends and reputation.

Loving as Shaping Our Relationship With Christ

As the author of the book of Hebrews says, divine love is the driving force behind sacrificial servanthood. This is why God came to us in the form of a man and why he sacrificed himself for us. The highest expression of love is a sacrificial death. This is why Jesus died for us. This is why Jesus gave his life for us. And it’s why we are to do the same for one another. When we love others sacrificially, we are loving Christ. We are imitating the love he has for us. Our love for one another is a sign that Christ’s work in us is real and that his love has genuinely transformed us.

Loving means Prioritizing Others’ Interests Over Ours

We can tell how much we love someone by how much we are willing to sacrifice for them. This is especially true when it comes to the members of our church. We need to be willing to put their interests above our own. We need to be willing to put their needs above our own needs. We need to be willing to put their reputation above our own reputation. We need to be willing to confront false teaching that is harming their faith lovingly. And we need to be willing to lovingly correct our fellow brothers and sisters when they are in error. We need to be willing to lovingly rebuke and exhort one another when we have the opportunity. We need to be willing to put the health and prosperity of the church above our desire for peace and harmony. And we need to be willing to put aside our desire for praise when it means speaking truth to a fellow believer.

By Showing This Type of Love, We Prove That We Are Chasing After Christ and Following His Ways.

If we genuinely love one another, we will be able to show it. And we will be able to see it in the way we live our lives. Our love will be seen as we show patience and kindness to others. It will be evident in times of difficulty and in times when people are being difficult with us. It will be shown when we are willing to go out of our way to help another person and when we are willing to put someone else’s needs before our own. Ultimately, what we do and what we don’t do reveals whether or not we are truly loving others. We can be nice to people, but that doesn’t mean we love them. We can do good things for people, but that doesn’t mean we love them. But when we are willing to sacrifice for the people in our church and willing to put their interests above our own, we prove that we are truly loving others.

Showing Love Means Guarding and Encouraging the Faith

When false teachers attempt to divide the church, one of the first things they do is attempt to quash any belief in authority. They try to convince people that their pastors or Christian leaders have no authority. They try to convince people that the Bible has no authority. They try to convince people that their faith has no authority. In fact, they attempt to show that the Christian faith is silly, foolish, and irrelevant in the modern world. But when we love one another, when we show love to our pastors and Christian leaders, we are guarding the faith. We are preventing false teachers from taking authority away from those who rightfully possess it. We are encouraging the faith by loving others with the same authority and power as God has shown in his Son.

Showing Love Means Denouncing and Exposing False Teaching

There are times when love must give way to rebuke. There are times when love must give way to exposure. And there are times when love must give way to denunciation. This is what must happen when false teachers begin to teach. When someone begins to teach through deceit, we must lovingly confront them and attempt to put an end to their false teaching. We must lovingly confront them and attempt to show them where they are wrong. We must lovingly confront them and attempt to show them that they are teaching a false gospel. When false teaching arises, we must lovingly confront it. We must do so with a tone of rebuke. Not a harsh, angry tone, but a loving, authoritative tone. We must lovingly confront false teaching because it is hindering the faith of others. It is hindering the faith of those who may not be fully mature enough to deal with the false teaching. It is hindering the faith of those who may not be equipped or able to discern false teaching.

Believers Should Be Known by Their Love

We have a choice to make. We can either be known for our love or known for our hate. We can either be known for our loving actions and our sacrificial living or known for our hateful words and oppressive actions. And we can only be known for this by actually loving one another. We can only love one another as long as we are shunning false teaching in our churches.

Bruce Mitchell
1 Peter 4:8