Zechariah 12-14, Psalm 94, 2 John
2 John 2:6 says, Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you have heard from the beginning. I’ll be honest, I struggle with being commanded to love. It’s like telling me I have to go to the gym. No, thank you. I don’t want to be out of breath. I don’t want to sweat, and I sure don’t want to be sore tomorrow. But guess what? I can’t be healthy without it. Sometimes, the only way to get me to do something is to command it.
Why do I have this reaction to the commandment of love? Because love is costly. Bob Goff describes the cost of love in two ways: sacrifice and presence. Sacrifice means giving up something I want so that someone else can have what they want. Presence is about attention. It’s a state of being. When we are present with another person, nothing else matters. Just them.
Perhaps Jesus presented it as a commandment because he knew I would be reluctant to pay the price. Perhaps he knew that my obstinance would stand in stark contrast to his humility. He was not reluctant to pay. He gave his love freely. Even when it cost him everything.