In 1 John 4:19-21, the same author said,

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

John's message to this dear lady is a repetition of a principle he stated earlier in greater detail, but it was not new with John. It's easy to detect the influence of Jesus in the words of verse 5 and 6.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.(John 13:34-35).

He talked about obedience, but he made it clear in verse 6 that the obedience involved walking in love. How do you obey the command to love? Perhaps it would be instructive to turn back to 1 John for that answer. Among other things John said.

• Whoever hates his brother walks in darkness. (2:11).
• If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. (3:15)
• If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has not pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? (3:17).
• This is love for God; to obey his commands and his commands are not burdensome. (5:3).

Let's pause right here and take stock of the writer's twin concerns. Five times within the first six verses, he used the word "truth." John believed in definable, recognizable truth. That should be a great concern for people living in the last year of this millennium. We live in a day and age when truth is up from grabs in the minds many people. The philosophy of post-modernism espouses the theory that there is no permanent, absolute truth that applies equally to all people in all situations. Post-modernism holds that truth can only be validated by human experience, not by authoritative pronouncements from such sources as the Bible.

John was not afraid to say that truth exists, that truth is knowable and that truth is important. He loved the chosen lady in the truth, because of the truth and assured her that God's grace, mercy and peace would be with her in truth.

But it would also be with her in love. Five times in these first 6 verses, he used the word "love." This is why I'm suggesting that we will find ourselves within God's will if we avoid extremism. If you're concerned about truth, it's quite possible that your zeal for truth will choke the love right out of your heart. In the interest of soundness, our zeal for truth sometimes stamps out love. We can become rigid, demanding, overbearing, cold-hearted, mean-spirited and unduly harsh.

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