Why Should we Love One another?
1 Peter 1:22-25
Introduction
There is no greater force than love. If two people truly love each other, they will do anything for each other. There is no greater bond on earth than true love.
This is especially true for believers. Why? Is there a difference between the love that believers have for one another, and the love that unbelievers have for there neighbors?
Scripture says yes, emphatically yes. We has believers are to have a different kind of love than neighbors have for one another. The love that believers are to have one another is what the Greek calls “Philadelphia” love, a very special kind of love. The word is rarely found except in Christian writings.
Philadelphia love means “Brotherly Love”, the very special love that exists between the bothers and sister within a loving family, brothers and sisters who truly cherish each other. It is the kind of love that binds us together as a family, that binds us in an unbreakable union, which nourishes and nurtures one another, that shows concern and looks after the welfare of one another.
The importance of believers loving one another with Philadelphia love cannot be over emphasized. We will see today that verse 22 of this passage teaches we are to sincere love for each other. Sincere means genuine, without pretension, without hypocrisy (whoa), or playing or acting. We are not to pretend, play, or act like we love one another; we are to love one another genuinely and sincerely.
We will learn today that there can be no mistake about the importance of love, remember this was written to a people who were severely persecuted for there faith, they were on the run, running for there lives, it is vitally important that true love exists within this body of believers as well as us today, because you will not find it in the world. We will learn that verse 22 teaches to love deeply from the heart. The word “deeply” does not mean with warmth but actually with “full intensity”. It literally means to “stretch love fully out”, or to love one another in an “all out manner”, meaning to have a “reckless” love for each other.
This is the kind of love believers are to have for one another, a Philadelphia kind of love. Today, the apostle Peter will teach us three reasons why we are to love one another deeply.
Read Scriptures: 1 Peter 1:22-25
I. We should love one another because, our souls have been purified.
Vs. 22 “Now 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.”
When something is purified it totally cleaned form any impurities. The scripture says, “Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth”. Listen, the only way that we can truly love one another the way the bible says we are to, is to be cleaned from all the junk of the world.
Cleansed from selfishness, and any self-seeking attitudes that we may have had as unbelievers. We are purified by obeying the truth. Jesus says “He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes to the father except by Him.” Jesus is the truth, He and only He is the one who can purify us and get rid of the dirt and junk that we bring to Him for forgiveness.
Once we have been purified we have the capability to love as the scripture teaches.
Jesus says in John 13:34-35 “As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Don’t miss this, as believers who have been purified by the truth we are commanded by Jesus to love each other. It is not a suggestion it is a command. But not just love, but from the heart. Not just lip service, but when I love someone form the heart my actions will show it.
II. We should love one another because, we are born again through the Word of God.
Vs. 23 “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.”
All true believers have been spiritually born again and spiritually remade. We have been spiritually created to be new men and new women, created brand new by God Himself to be brothers and sisters to each other and to love each other
1 John 1:5 says this “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves His child as well.”
What is the significance of being born again, because before we were born again the only nature that existed within us was our human nature; the nature that is abusive, self-seeking, hypocritical, prideful, angry, selfish, jealous, withdrawn, arrogant, bitter, deceptive, envious, snobbish, hateful. This is the human nature, this is what comes natural to us as human beings.
It is necessary to be born again, and to be born into the family of God through Jesus Christ, because once we are born again we have a Godly nature that comes to dwell within us called the Holy Spirit, and the Spirits nature is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The proof that a person is born again is the difference that is evident such as love for others.
III. We should love one another because, life is short.
Vs. 24-25 “For, "All men 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 stands forever." And this is the word that was preached to you.”
I want us to see two facts that these two verses teach us about loving each other.
1. Life is ever so short. Life lasts no longer than the grass that appears so quickly and then withers away or the flower that appears just as quickly and falls away.
I want you to take note of the phrase in this passage “all their glory”. People work and work to be glorious, to be attractive, acceptable, honorable, understanding, recognized, charming, appealing, dignified, beautiful. But no matter how much glory we achieve, we age, wrinkle, our bodies deteriorate, and then passes off the scene of life. Our flesh is no more than the grass that withers, and the glory of our flesh is no more than the flower that falls away.
2. Believers endure forever. The Word of the Lord stands forever. The word of the Lord lives in the heart and life of every believer. Therefore, we as believers will live forever.
What is this word that stands forever? It is the Word of the gospel that is preached to you. If we really receive the word of the gospel—really bring it into our lives—it will live within us forever and keep us living forever.
This is the point: we as believers have received the Word of the Lord into our lives. Therefore, we are going to be living together forever. WE ARE THE FAMILY of GOD. So we should LIVE LIKE IT!!! We should live like the family of God; we are to love each other from the heart.
Conclusion
True brotherly love should exists in the family of God, like the chorus says, you’re my brother you’re my sister, so take me by the hand, Together we will work until He comes. There’s no foe that can defeat us when were walking side by side; as long as there is love, we will stand.
We must be on the same page as a church if we are going to go forward, as long as we love each other, the way the bible says we should there is absolutely nothing can defeat us.
The invitation is this, if you have never born into the family of God first I want to invite you to come and receive the Holy Spirit of God, that comes by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Then second if you are a believer and you haven’t been doing a good job of loving you fellow brothers or sisters, we can not handle backbiting, and gossiping about each other if we are going to stand, maybe you need to come and repent and ask God to help you love that person and pray for that person.
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