Love Fervently

Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently.

1 Peter 1:22

How hard is it to lend to someone who you feel doesn’t deserve it? How hard is it to speak a kind word to someone who despises you? How hard is it to turn the other cheek and walk away? On the contrary, how easy is it to speak your mind? How easy is it to wish bad on someone? How easy is it to retaliate and turn the other person’s cheek…? These are the questions that we must answer within ourselves today… These are the things that we face on a daily basis and these things show where we are currently in our spiritual walk and how much further we still have to go… Taking on the mind of Christ leads us to extend a helping hand and not dig a pit for another to fall in… In today’s study verse, Peter speaks about the love and desire we should have as a child of God… Notice that this passage says that you have purified your souls through obeying the truth by the Spirit. Before we can walk we must first stand up, before we can speak we must first open our mouths; Peter reminds us today that we are called to love one another, we are called to exalt one another, and we are called to have unfeigned love one for another as a child of God… The love that Peter talks about is instilled in us by God and only can be placed within us when we first turn unto Him… 

We are purified through the Spirit which guides and directs our lives. To be purified means that you have been cleansed, sanitized or filtered…  Through the acceptance of Jesus Christ and the indwelling Holy Spirit, our purification process has begun, we have been cleansed from the sin that chained us to death. We have been sanitized by the blood of Jesus and filtered through His love and sacrifice… Without the presence of the Holy Spirit residing within you, you cannot accomplish anything. We have to be led by the spirit; we have to have the Holy Spirit abiding within us. Remember Christ spoke to the disciples prior to His departure and said that they will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes; we through the Spirit have the ability to overcome and be victorious on this earth. It is also through the Spirit that we can love unconditionally; we can help our enemies, and be kind to those who show no kindness towards us. Understand today that this is not possible until you have “purified your souls…” If you are still living a life of sin and focused on the desires of the world then you will not be able to love your brother/sister or love with a pure heart… In the world everything is done for personal gain or exposure, in the spirit, everything is done to glorify God and lift up one another… In order to focus on lifting one another as opposed to tearing one another down you must first acknowledge where you stand and in which direction you want to go… We all must be purified and this is why Peter writes the very words contained in this verse… The only way to love fervently is through the Lord, the only way to have unfeigned love for your brethren is through the Lord… You must purge the evil that is born within you in order to receive the spirit of God that will guide you to new heights and have you doing things you never thought possible… 

ALL FOR HIS GLORY!