WALK IN LOVE: Gods Commandment

In John 13:34,35 Jesus says, “A NEW commandment I give you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

Now I want to turn to…

Rom. 5:5 where Paul says, …the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

John tells us in I John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God not only commands us to love one another but He gives us the love to do it with, according to Rom. 5:5 above, …the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost…which IS given unto us.

Now we know that love is a fruit. Gal. 5:22 tells us that. It is the first fruit of the Spirit. And fruit can grow. We need to feed that love on the Word of God, (exercise it). What do I mean, exercise it? Well, act like you would, if you did LOVE! Be ye a doer of the Word and love WILL grow.

When we walk in love, we are letting the God-kind of love dominate us. Not the natural human love dominate us. Natural human love can turn to hatred when it doesn't get it's way.

Now let’s turn to Jer. 31:31-34 God says, “Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a NEW covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah--

“not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.

But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My LAW in their minds and write it on their hearts and I will be their God and they will be My people.

“No more will every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.

For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more.”

God also says, through the prophet Ezekiel, “…I will sprinkle clean water on you and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols.

I will give you a NEW heart and put a NEW spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them, (Ezek. 36:25-27).

Notice above in Jeremiah, God says, LAW, I will put my Law in their hearts. Law is not plural.

Then in Rom. 13:7 Paul says, Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.

And then in v.8 Owe no one anything except to love one another, (we are to owe no debt but to love one another) Now notice the rest of the verse, …for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

V.9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not bear false witness,” “You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, ( And there IS: There are 250 in the New Covenant alone and almost a thousand in the Old Covenant), all are summed up in this saying, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

V.10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbor or Love does no harm to his neighbor…

If you love or walk in love, you’re not going to harm your neighbor. You’re not going to steal from your neighbor. If you love, you’re not going to commit adultery with the wife of your neighbor and if you love, you’re not going to kill your neighbor, so now, lets’ look at the rest of v.10 …therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

John says in, I Jn. 3:14, We Know, (not we think, or this is how it could be) no, John says, we know, that we have [passed] from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.

And of course John was writing to the Church and talking about spiritual death and life when he’s telling them, we know that we have passed from death to life and how do we know? Because we love the brethren!

If we walk in love, we become a doer of the Word. Something that I’ve practiced and I do need to do it some more, especially living in a world full of hatred, is: I would take I Cor. 13 verses 4 thru 8 from the Amplified Bible and write them down. I used to carry it in my back pocket and every chance I got, for instance at work at break time, I would pull it out. I would read it over and over. I would study it. I would memorize it and meditate on it. Then, I would practice it, (and believe me, it’s not easy).

A good love thermometer that you can use to see if you're walking in love is: I Cor. 13:5 in the Amplified Bible. "(Love) is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it - pays no attention to a suffered wrong."

When you begin to take account of the evil done to you, you're not walking in love.

I Cor. 13:5 is a good love gauge to measure your walk in love.

I would always remember that the love of God, the God-kind of love, is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given me and if I walk in love or walk in the Spirit, not in the flesh (because the flesh will want revenge), it is easier to love my enemies, to bless those who curse me, to do good to those who hate me and to pray for those who spitefully use me.

I can love like Jesus loved because Jesus is in me. I can walk in love!

Our ultimate goal should be Eph. 5:1,2 …imitate your Father as dear children …and Walk In Love!

Return from Walk In Love to Holy Ghost