Sincere Love of the Brethren

 I am afraid that there are way too many Christians who just "attend church." Yes, they are saved. They know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, but they have not grown in their Christian lives. They are still "babes in Christ." Because of this lack of growth, they just go to worship services, but that is about all they do in their Christian walk, so they are very limited in their effectiveness as a church member.

The Bible is clear that we are to grow in our relationship with Christ and a big part of that growth takes place in being a member of the body of Christ, the church. (I Peter 1:22) Peter speaks to the Christians who have purified their souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren. Once we have done that we are to love one another fervently with a pure heart. He is putting an emphasis on loving our brothers and sisters in Christ as a part of our growth in Christ.

Of course, we must begin to grow in Christ by obeying His truth. When we do that we will eliminate the sinful things in our life, and we will add the right things, so we will be pure. This is all done through the Spirit of God working in us, and it is done in connection with the sincere love of our brothers and sisters in Christ. We need each other. We pray for each other, and  we help each other grow. We will only do this well as we have a sincere love for each other that really cares.

In fact, it need to be a fervent love from a pure heart. The word fervent means "hot." This is not lukewarm, tepid love. This is deep, unconditional love for every other Christian in our church. It is the kind of love that will give of our time, talents, and resources to help them in any way we can. When this love comes from the pure heart we developed through obeying the truth, amazing things happen in us and through us for the glory of the Lord. That is who church is supposed to be and how God is supposed to work.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read I Peter 3-5.