Love Never Walks Alone

The Apostle John was considered “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23; 19:26; 20:2; 21:7; 21:20). His Epistles of 1, 2 and 3 John each emphasize walking like Jesus walked (1 Jn 1:6–7; 2:5–6; 2 Jn 6; 3 Jn 3–4). To walk like Him is to love like Him, and His walk of love differs from other ways of walking in love.

First, the love John teaches connects to “the beginning,” a repeated reference in his letters (1 Jn 1:1; 2:7; 2:13–14, 24; 3:11; 2 Jn 5–6). Interestingly, the beginning is also a reference to wisdom in Hebraic thought in the time leading up to and during the NT (Kugel, Traditions of the Bible). John draws on themes from the opening chapters of Genesis as a beginning (light vs. darkness; obedience vs. the sin of the devil; and Cain vs. Abel). Even more, he anchors to the beginning of Jesus the Word in the flesh, who walked among them, and obedience to His commands. Any walk of love that boasts a different beginning than Christ Himself leads down a deceptive path.

Further, the love that John teaches never walks alone. We often recite John’s identification that God is love (1 Jn 4:8,16), and that’s not all—John also adds that He is life (1 Jn 1:1–2); He is light (1:5); and He is truth (2 Jn 1–2; see also Jn 14:6). Walking in love also means the life of walking in the light and the truth. If we wander off in love without light and without truth, we’ll get lost without life.

At Safe Place Ministry, we aim to walk in love through our care, as wise accompaniment. This means walking in love that is tethered to Jesus, the beginning and true wisdom, which also means never walking in love alone without also walking in life, light and truth. For God is life, light, truth, and love.