2 John says, “This is love, that we walk according to his commandments” (2 John 1:6). Love is not left abstract; it is described as lived obedience. The letter also links love and truth as the context for Christian relationships (2 John 1:1–3).
In 2 John 1:5–6, the writer urges the “dear lady” to hold to a familiar instruction: love one another. These verses continue the letter’s movement from joy to exhortation. After the writer expresses happiness that some of her children are “walking in the truth” (verse 4), he turns to a direct request: keep living out the central instruction they already received.
These verses present love as the central, longstanding instruction for the community addressed. The writer’s tone is personal and urgent (“I beg you”), but the content is not portrayed as a new policy. It is a reminder of what they already had “from the beginning” (explicit claim). The passage also ties love to concrete behavior.
A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.
Start with 2 John 1:6, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.
6This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.