Tuesday the 13th

1 Peter 1: 22-23

 

 ²²Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. ²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

 

Purity comes from  obeying the truth, however we cannot simply stop there, that truth brings about change, real change, tangible change that you can see and feel We are not simply called to love one another, but to love one another deeply…..from the heart. The King James version uses the word fervently from the Greek word ektenos meaning intently, without ceasing.  Here again it comes back to leading with love. Not just your everyday, I love you, but fervent love. An all consuming love that puts the needs of others before your own. Not just every now and then, but always, everyday. Not towards just the people we get along with, but specifically the people that we do not. This is a foreign ides to the natural world, yet it is a concept that we must each struggle with, so that we might understand it fully, and live it unequivocally. The next verse explains why we should fight for this all to well. We must radiate this concept that makes no sense to this world because we are no longer of this world. We live here, we must live in this world for sure, but we are not of it. We have been born again, we have been given a new lease on life, an everlasting and imperishable gift. We must shed not just our old words, but our old actions as well. We must work to reflect the love that Christ reflected so well while He walked this world. We have eternity laid out in front of us, but that path can only be lit with love….love of God and His Son, love of His word, and love of our neighbor. This is the love that will light the world, this is the love that will radiate the warmth that the natural world so desperately needs, this is the love that is ours to receive and to give. We have been purified, now we must take the next step and love.  

 

Peace,

Brian