It says, being born again to an incorruptible seed. This is how it might read, now that we have gone through the first part: Since you are becoming pure morally, and changing from what you were, because of your obeying the truth of God with the help of God's Holy Spirit, love the brethren in honesty, without pretending in any way. Love them continually, earnestly, carefully, and intently. Because you have been born again - the first time, physically, as a human being - but you have been born again, this time, to eternal life, through the Word of God, God wants us to love one another.
It becomes intensified. You love God the Father first, and honor Him. And above everything else, love the brethren fervently - above all things. This phrase above all things means to stretch out. Stretch and strain yourself to love.
We do not always have personalities that match. We do not always have backgrounds that match. That does not matter. You are to stretch out, and to be continually intense, and more intensely and earnestly, increasing and growing long in life. This is what that means. Above all things, fervently love the brethren.
Agape love is capable of being commanded, because it is not primarily an emotion, but a decision of the will leading to right action. It is a decision of your mind to love, to behave yourself in a loving fashion.
We have an example of somebody who stretched Himself out for us.
Why did Peter tell us to have fervent love, above all things, for one another? Why did he want us to make loving each other the top priority in our live? I have four reasons.
Reason number 1, back in I Peter 4.
Does this mean that if we love one another fervently, that a multitude or our sins will be covered? In part, it does - Forgive us our debts, as we forgive others. How about, if I do not forgive others, will my debts be forgiven? No, they will not. You are going to stand before Jesus Christ, and He is going to say, I know you.
The same principle applies here. God appreciates our love and concern for others. Certainly in judging us, He is going to take this into consideration. But can we say from this that we trade sins? I will trade my sin, I will encourage him six times, that means that I can do six sins. That is called indulgences, we cannot do that. Human nature might want to do that, but that is not what it means. God says that you show love, you help a person to overcome, and God takes it into consideration concerning your sins.
Let us get a better picture of this.
Hatred makes a mountain out of a molehill. Any little offense becomes Mt. Everest. But a person that loves puts a sin, or a grievance, or an insult, out of sight and forgets it, it is not important. Do you see the contrast? Hate versus love is what Peter is talking about.
The sense of what Peter is saying in I Peter 4:8 is that when one loves, as God does, he or she overlooks the faults in another. We forgive offenses that are against us. By loving one another, we do not stir up or broadcast sin. We are going to forgive the faults of others because of the great forgiveness that Jesus Christ extended to us.
What did He say when He was on the cross? He said, Forgive them, for they do not know what they do. He was talking about the Roman solider, but how about us? Did He forgive us, because we did not know what we were doing? We had to have someone die for us, because we sinned. We hated Christ, and yet, He said, Forgive them. He forgave you and me for what you have done and I have done. As Harold Way said, if we don't forgive, we set our hearts in a hard fashion. We bring pain to God, after all that He has done for us.
Consider this deeply: we are to love one another. The first thing is that love hides sin.
When God starts to judge us, what do you think is going to be at the top of His list?
I am sure that you have seen the analogy here. We have had a friend that gave His life for us, in perfect, unconditional love. If we take advantage of the … . . .
If you have ever believed or had been told sometime in the past that faith is the greatest of all qualities, you are wrong. Nothing e&120;ceeds love in importance to God. It is right at the top of the list, and therefore love ought to be on the top of our list as to what we are to shoot for in our lives. I am going to show you how thoroughly Paul e&120;amined this issue so that we can see that there is nothing in life, to God, that is more important to Him than love. Everything else is less important, almost to the point of almost being insignificant. So the greatest gift, the greatest quality or attribute of mind, character, or personality, is love. Notice the way Peter words this in I Peter 4:8.
Above everything else in life, we are to strive to love. Let me say right here that love is far more than keeping the commandments. It involves other qualities of conduct, other qualities of mind than merely keeping the letter of the law. People can be moral in the sense that they are keeping the commandments of God and yet be absolutely cold in their attitude towards other people. They can be frigid, rigid, and have no heart, no warmth, and no kindness. Who am I describing? I am describing that group which was named there in Acts 15. Nothing is e&120;cluded.
Above all things in life, we are to strive for love. The apostle John used one word to describe God. He said, God is love, not God is wisdom, not God is righteousness, not God is morality, not God is anything else. God is love. If there is one word that can catch the essence of what God is, it is love. Now certainly He is holy, and certainly He is righteous, and certainly He is moral, but it is only love that gathers all those things and puts them into the right form that will describe God's greatest attribute, and so that is what we are to shoot for in life.
