“And by this, we know that we have come to know him if we keep his commandments. Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him, there is no cause for stumbling. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
1John 2:3-11
To sum this up, John says that if we claim to know God, we are to obey His command to love one another. In doing this, we prove that we are walking in the light.
John also says that we should walk in the same way Jesus did. How did Jesus walk or live out His life while on the earth? What type of man was He? Yes, I know He performed many miracles and even walked on water. But how did He talk to people and treat them? Was He selfish, or did He put the needs of others before His own?
The absolute truth is that to abide in God; we must walk in unity with Him, which means we are to have the same heart and mind of God. Since God is love, and because He loved us so much that He sacrificed His Son to pay the price for our sins, we ought to love others.
John also points out the opposite of love, which is hate. It means to detest someone to the point of thrusting them away. This is worse than teenagers telling their parents they hate them, which may last a day or two, or until they get what they want. It is to abhor someone to the point of rejection. It means that we reject the cares and needs of others and see only our selfish wants.
In Philippians 2: 3-4, we find these words: “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.”
John challenges us to step out of darkness and walk as Jesus did.