One House : 1 Peterნიმუში

Love One Another Earnestly

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for

‘All flesh is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of grass.

The grass withers,

and the flower falls,

but the word of the Lord remains forever.’

And this word is the good news that was preached to you.

1 Peter 1:22-25 ESV

The truth of the gospel saves and purifies those submitted to it. It is in this pure-heartedness that we are able to love one another to higher and deeper degrees. The Holy Spirit gives believers the capacity to love their brothers and sisters in Christ at their point of need. This love is not the easy kind of love from obligation or affection, which humans grasp instinctively. Instead, it is a sincere, intentional, and deliberate love that operates even when warm feelings are absent. To love other believers earnestly means to extend love to its absolute end—not something we would or could do apart from the Holy Spirit.

Peter then quotes Isaiah 40:6-8 to remind his listeners of the regenerating power of the everlasting, all-sufficient Word of God. Because the seed of God’s word is in us, we always have the capacity to bear fruit in loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. So if there is any lack of love amongst us, the remedy for this lack begins in knowing the word of God more. May it take root and transform us daily.