I love how so many of the letters of the New Testament begin. John and Paul are my favorites in how they address their letters. As we see above, John speaks of grace and mercy and peace. Paul, many times would address his letters stating how much he loved and cared for the persons he was addressing. These men truly had a special way with words!
As John begins the book of 2 John he addresses the chosen lady and her children. It is not really known exactly who John is addressing here, but it is thought that he was using symbolism and actually addressing a particular church congregation. The assumption is also made that the elder is John himself.
The part that I want to focus on in this post, though, is where John speaks of the truth and the love we have in God. These are not new thoughts to us as John addressed them many times in the book of 1 John. What really speaks to me is the use of them together. Without the truth of God we cannot have the love of God. And, likewise, without the love of God there is no truth. These words have an unbreakable connection.
When we look at this in connection with our own lives and our relationship with God we see a similar connection. If we know the Truth of God then we will love the truth and we will love others. It is the truth that binds us together in our relationship with God and our relationship with others.
And, here's the best part -- "...for the sake of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever...". The truth will be with us FOREVER. It NEVER changes. It will ALWAYS be true while we are here on earth. And we will have the truth FOREVER into eternity.
How great is that? In a world where so much changes so fast we know we have one truth that will always be with us and will never change. I find that to be such a reassuring and comforting truth for my own life. I can ALWAYS rely on God. You just can't beat that, now can you?
5 Thoughts Shared:
Truth and love, a definitely unbreakable connection! Great inspiration and encouragement in this post, Melanie! Awesome work.
Please stop by my post http://magnoliaheartbeats.blogspot.com/2008/09/awards-day-kat-at-faith-in-all-seasons.html to pick something up...
Great thoughts Melanie! Thanks so much for sharing... the Truth is so very important!
Blessings!
no you can't beat that!!!
Melanie,
First, thank you for this post. The truth is so important and without it, we can't really know love.
Also, I was here earlier!!!! I got pulled away to help my son and forgot to come back. Thank you so much for coming to my blog to comment...it reminded me to come back here....will you please come back and grab the "Share the Love" award too.
You are so one of those people I wanted to name ... please know we have that bloggy thing going. I love your blog! I am encouraged by you!
Blessings my friend.
With the fast pace of life, it is nice to find stability in Him!
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