John wrote so that we could have fellowship with each other and God, be filled with joy, refrain from sin, and live a life of love.

Jesus asks us the same question He asked Peter on the shore of Galilee – ‘do you love Me?”  John reiterates that the answer requires more than words.

I can’t love Him and continue to walk in darkness, ignoring the truth and instruction in His Word.

I can’t love Him and hate my brother.

I can’t love Him and happily continue in disobedience to what He commands.

I can’t love Him and place all my attention, time, and effort on the things of this world.

Loving God demands exclusivity.  It calls for allegiance and loyalty to the relationship.  I am His beloved, and He must be mine if the relationship is to be true and fruitful.  In this totality of commitment we find the blessings of joy and fellowship, and the love of God is replicated in our lives.

I John 2:6 – 12
⁶ He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
⁷ Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.
⁸ Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
⁹ He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
¹⁰ He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
¹¹ But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
¹² I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.