I already had another topic in mind for this week’s blog when I came upon this verse while doing some Bible study. I wasn’t even thinking about my blog and I had many verses to look up for my study, but for some reason (God!) this leapt out at me.
“Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart.” (emphasis mine) 1 Peter 1:22
Can you tell which part caught my attention? Love one another deeply. I am not new to reading the Bible or to the Christian faith. I know that love is a huge part of what it means to be a follower of Christ. God wants us to love. To love Him, to love His word, to love the lost, and to love other believers.
I know this in my head, but I don’t always know it in my heart. The last few years have been very troubling ones for me. I have seen things in the body of Christ in large measures that I really didn’t know were as big a problem as they are. I have been shocked, saddened, and angry.
Things like racism, xenophobia, selfishness, and fear. I have not known what to do with my complicated thoughts and feelings about this. I still don’t.
However, love one another deeply, struck me anew today. It was a reminder that it is what God wants me to do. Even in the midst of my strife, I am to love deeply.
Like everyone else, I am in process. Hopefully I am becoming more like Jesus as time goes on. He calls us to follow Him. And to follow Him means to love one another deeply.
