Loving Deeply

Surviving Times of Suffering

1 Peter 1:22-25

Living the way God wants us to live is a

Peter gives good solid advice on how we ought to live in verses 13-16 and encourages us to fashion our lives after the Lord Jesus Christ and not live our lives after the old pattern.  We are to be holy because God is holy.  We are called here to “love one another” (v. 22).  Seeing you are “born again” (v. 23), live like it because you are a new creature in Christ.

Isaiah 53:5

1. Believers have the capacity to demonstrate (v. 22a)

Luke 11:42

1 John 2:9-11

Romans 5:5

Ephesians 2:8

“He who BELIEVES in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not OBEY the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.”                                                                                                 John 3:36

2. We’re to in loving others (v. 22b)

1 John 3:18

Romans 12:9

We don’t give up on people because God !

1 Corinthians 13

“To love at all is to be vulnerable; love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal.  Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—it will change.  It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation.  The only place outside of heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.” – C. S. Lewis, “The Four Loves”

Galatians 5

Agape love is only possible with spiritual growth; on the other hand, it’s with spiritual growth.

“If we are filled with the Word of God (Colossians 3:16ff) and the Spirit of God (Ephesians 5:18ff), we will manifest in our daily experiences.”

3. We’re because we’ve been born of the Holy Spirit (vv. 23-25)

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.”  John 15:12

The only people capable of this kind of agape love are those who have been born of an .

John 13:34, 35

It is the Scriptures that tell the gospel message and make the way of salvation clear to .

 “Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.”
Ephesians 4:32

Look at the gospel and what Jesus did for you, and you’ll be able to forgive and to .

Daily Meditations

Memory verse: “For, ‘All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord endures forever.’ And this is the word that was preached to you.”

Monday
Read 1 Peter 1.  According to verse 22, how had these Christians purified themselves?

What did Peter urge his readers to do here ? (v. 22)

Tuesday
Read 1 Peter 1:18-25.  What do we learn about love from verse 22?

How are we to love other believers?

Wednesday
Read 1 Peter 1 in a different translation.  How had these believers been born again?  See verse 23.

How is the Word like a seed?

Thursday
Read 1 Peter 1:22-25.  From verse 23, what is the relationship between being born again and loving one another deeply?

How will you tangibly show love for another Christian this week?

Friday
Read 1 Peter 1:22-25.  What truth should we obey in order to purify ourselves?

How can our priorities reflect the fact that our lives are temporary while God’s Word is eternal?

Saturday
Read 1 Peter 1:22-25.  Reread verse 25. What lasts forever?

What are you doing today to invest in what lasts for eternity?