I Peter 1:22-24 Love one another

Whew!
The last two weeks have been good weeks of study....lots of good feedback and insightful comments, and hopefully we have grown and matured in our walk.

We've arrived now at another important passage in this first chapter:

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. 23 For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. 24 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. (I Peter 1:22-25)

So many layers here!
Let's start un-peeling at verse 22 -- Peter assumes here that we have purified ourselves by obeying the truth. And he says that is what will result in a sincere love for other believers.

Obeying the truth....obeying God.....well, we all TRY to do that, right?
David said he did:

Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean;    wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.Create in me a pure heart, O God,    and renew a steadfast spirit within me. (Psalm 51:7, 10)

Once we have an obedient spirit, James told us some instructions to follow:

Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. (James 4: 7-8)

Surely we must spend time in study of His Word, to know His commands. We can't be obedient if we have no clue what He has asked of us. Then we can follow His commands:

And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love. (II John 1:6)

Paul makes it clear that obedience is all-out, give 110% effort.....words, actions, and even our thoughts!

 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (II Corinthians 10:5)

This obedience will result in the pure heart and the "right spirit" that David talked about.

The Lord is abundantly clear in the importance that He puts on our love for one another, no?

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (John 15:12)

Let's get real here, OK?
This is not optional.
It's His command.

Aww, but he doesn't know how horrible Mr McGreedy is...He can't possibly mean that I should love that cranky ole Mrs. Meddlesome, can He?  Or that awful child, Tommy Whinesconstantly....

Ummmm, yes, He does know. And He does mean that.
Think about the fact that when we were unlovable, He loved us! Not because we were so cute, and so good, and so nice.....
Nope.
He loved us when we were sinners. And He still loves us as we struggle to become more like Him. Because it is His nature to do so.
And yes, He does expect us to show that same kind of love to others. Doesn't matter if they are cranky, or mean, or greedy, or whiny, or even stinky. And this is not a holier-than-thou, patronizing sort of love, either.
And mind you, it can't happen overnight! As Christians, old or new, we may try to force the issue, and that just can't happen. It actually takes practice!
I found this quote from Oswald Chambers really inspiring:

I should look within and remember how wonderfully He has dealt with me. The knowledge that God has loved me beyond all limits will compel me to go into the world to love others in the same way. I may get irritated because I have to live with an unusually difficult person. But just think how disagreeable I have been with God! Am I prepared to be identified so closely with the Lord Jesus that His life and His sweetness will be continually poured out through Me? Neither natural love nor God’s divine love will remain and grow in me unless it is nurtured. Love is spontaneous, but it has to be maintained through discipline. (from My Utmost for His Highest)

Here's an "assignment" for all of us: the phrase "one another" is seen more than twenty-five times in the New Testament.....hmmmm, could it be for a really important reason? (Grin)
Let's look up some of those times before we study again, OK? Pay attention to what each verse is saying, and maybe make a note of it so we remember.
We'll talk about it next time we meet!