1 Peter 1:22 (New International Version)
22Now 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.[a]
Ahhh...we finally get to #12 in the House Rules. It's all been good though. House Rule #12 Love One Another Deeply from the Heart. In Chapter 1 the Word talks a lot about obedience and the truth. It also talks about receiving the truth and walking in it. If our souls are truly purified, then we can reflect the love of Christ. We will then have a sincere love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. The word sincere means not hypocritical or deceitful; open; genuine; archaic pure; unadulterated; unmixed. In Webster's dictionary it says sincere stresses absence of hypocrisy, feigning, or any falsifying embellishment or exaggeration.
In the NASB version this verse says "purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart." In this sentence the first "love" comes from the Greek word "philadelphia" which stands for brotherly love. The second "love" refers to an agape love which the early church used to describe the unique love of Jesus Christ. As believers we are all washed by the same precious blood of the lamb. Loving our brothers and sisters in Christ is evidence that we are truly obedient and the love of Jesus radiates through us to everyone. In the Word, it commands us to love one another so we would truly be obedient if we love each other from our heart. It is an intense love. It is a love that should be able to reach all believers. It should not matter that one may be more mature than another in the Word. We should be able to encourage, love, and strengthen one another.
We do not falsify or exaggerate words or actions that might hurt another believer. That would not be a pure love. So many times as believers we think we know what each other is going through or we might hear from other people in the church as to what someone might be doing or going through. Many times it can be exaggerated. It brings to mind that old game where you sit around and the first person says a few sentences and by the time it gets around to the last person they hear something totally different. So start being obedient and show a sincere love of your brothers and sisters. Don't gossip or exaggerate something that you heard about a fellow believer. Tell the people that are gossiping that they are wrong and stop the spread of the gossip. If Christ is truly in our hearts, then we will show a true and sincere love to each other. If our hearts are truly purified, then we will go on to a higher level of love with a strong and tender affection for one another.
