In this tiny little book of II John,  he has four themes.  The first was 'truth', which I discussed yesterday.

The second is love.  II John 5-6 "And now I beseech you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.  And this is love, that we walk after his commandments.  This is the commandment, That, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it."

John is the apostle that Jesus loved.  And John never forgot what that love meant.  He understood the power in loving people.  He referred to one of the only two commandments that Jesus gave.  Matt. 22: 37, 39b  "Jesus said unto him you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.   …You shall love your neighbor as yourself."   The first was to love the Lord our God.  The second was to love our neighbor.  Love.

And then John defined love as walking in Christ's commandments.  Love is not a feeling.  It is a behavior.  Walking in love involves an action.  Doing.  Don't tell me how you feel.  Show me what you are doing.  I know my husband loves me when he says, "Here, let me do that for you".

Jonn uses the word 'walk' twice.  Walking can only be done one step at a time.  You take one step before you can take the next.  And you don't finish.  You just put one foot in front of the other.  And keep on keeping on.  That's love.  It is never finished.

If you think you can change people by telling them what they ought to do, you have erred.  The only thing that changes someone is your love.  You just keep on loving them.  You don't have to agree with someone to love them.