Digging Deeper Days
Finding the original intent of Scripture and making good application to our everyday lives as we become equipped to correctly handle the Word of Truth!
Today is 2-for-1 Friday!
Check out Love That Lasts!
The Questions
1) How are we called to love one another?
2) Why does the way we love one another matter?
3) How does our love impact the world around us?
1 Peter 1:22-25, 2:11-16
22 Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly, 23 because you have been born again—not of perishable seed but of imperishable—through the living and enduring word of God.
24 For All flesh is like grass,
and all its glory like a flower of the grass.
The grass withers, and the flower falls,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.
And this word is the gospel that was proclaimed to you.
(I Peter 1:22-25)
11 Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and exiles to abstain from sinful desires that wage war against the soul. 12 Conduct yourselves honorably among the Gentiles, so that when they slander you as evildoers, they will observe your good works and will glorify God on the day he visits.
13 Submit to every human authority because of the Lord, whether to the emperor as the supreme authority 14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. 15 For it is God’s will that you silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good. 16 Submit as free people, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as God’s slaves. (1 Peter 2:11-16)
Original Intent
1) How are we called to love one another?
Peter grasped the importance of relationships and how they impact those around us. In this passage, he highlights specifically the weight of how Christ-followers treat each other. He challenged his readers to love one another sincerely, out of hearts that have been purified, and to do so constantly. Peter’s expectation was that the love shown between fellow believers would be greater and more evident than any other human love people would see and experience on this earth. Later in this same book, Peter delves more into the attributes of love between those within the church…a love that is marked as like-minded, sympathetic, compassionate, humble, and full of blessing (1 Peter 3:8-9).
2) Why does the way we love one another matter?
EVIDENCE. That’s the simple answer. Peter begins verse 22 with “Since you have…” and in verse 23 continues with, “…because you have…” He conveys the message that once a person has allowed Christ to truly change them, there will be adjustments to their outward behavior that will be observable by the watching world. He states that our love is evidence of two specific changes that happen in the life of a Christ-follower: obedience to the truth (verse 22); and being born again through the word of God, the gospel (verses 23 and 25).
3) How does our love impact the world around us?
Peter gives his readers a glimpse of how love impacts others. First, as we love ONE ANOTHER, we offer each other blessing and compassion (1 Peter 3:9). When UNBELIEVERS observe the love Christ-followers have for one another, they can see God’s love and then glorify Him as a result (verse 12). And when believers submit to the AUTHORITY placed over them out of their love for Christ, with a heart that is marked by reverence and endurance (verses 18-20), they have the ability to silence the ignorance of fools (verses 14-15). Peter paints a picture of a strong love that changes and deeply affects the world.
Everyday Application
1) How are we called to love one another?
Do you have an active awareness of how you treat, speak to, and speak about your fellow believers? Unfortunately, the people we know inside the church, and even more so inside of our homes, tend to be the ones we neglect the most. Do you know the word that really gets me in this passage? CONSTANTLY. Why? Because I don’t wanna [insert stomping 3-year-old feet here]. Because I have decided they don’t deserve it. Because I’ve had a hard day and I’m not in the mood. I am embarrassed to admit how often I see failure in myself related to those closest to me – my husband, children, friends and other people at church. OUCH. Instead, they should be the ones I treat the very best, because it brings glory to God.
2) Why does the way we love one another matter?
Evidence. A simple word that can mean a hard reality. What does the watching world see when they observe my life? And yours? If someone looked over the last 20 posts I have made on whatever social media, what conclusions would they draw about my life and what matters to me? How would they see me interacting with others around me? Would they see someone who is argumentative, defensive and hurtful? Or would they see a person full of grace, wisdom, and gentleness? Would they be able to conclude that knowing Jesus and the truth of the gospel has changed who I am at my very core? Am I offering evidence of the radical love of Christ to the world through how I love the people in my family and church?
3) How does our love impact the world around us?
How are you allowing the truth and action of powerful love to affect and change your world? Consider the following areas of your life…
ONE ANOTHER – Who needs your compassionate and blessing-filled love today? In your family? Among your friends? Which people at church? How can you actively demonstrate that love?
UNBELIEVERS – How are you expressing the love of Christ in a way that is visible in those contexts of your life where those who do not yet believe may be watching? When you are in the check-out line? Or out to dinner? When you interact with others at work or face challenges there? When you interact with your neighbors?
AUTHORITIES – How does submission manifest itself in your life? With your spouse? With leaders at church? With your boss at work? Are there any adjustments that need to be made in either your attitude or your actions to submit in a way that overflows from your love for Christ?
What do YOU think?! Share Here!
Missing the connection to our other Journey Study today?
Catch up with Love That Lasts!
Digging Deeper is for Everyone!
1) Take this passage (or any other passage).
2) Read it, and the verses around it,
several times
3) Write down your questions
as you think of them.
4) Ask specific culture related questions and be ready to dig around for your answers. Google them, use www.studylight.org, or look them up in a study Bible and read the footnotes (click on the little letters next to a word and it will show you
other related verses!). (www.esvbible.org)
5) Check your applications with other trusted Christians that you are in community with and embrace the fullness of God
in your everyday!
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Why Dig Deeper?
Finding the original meaning is a huge deal when we study Scripture and can make all the difference in our understanding as we apply God’s truths to our everyday lives.
In our modern-day relationships, we want people to understand our original intention as we communicate; how much more so between God and humanity?!
Here’s a little bit more on why we take Digging Deeper so seriously.
Study Tools
We love getting help while we study and www.studylight.org is one of many excellent resources, providing the original Hebrew (Old Testament) or Greek (New Testament) with an English translation.
Want to know more about a specific word in a verse? Click on “Strong’s Interlinear Bible” then click the word you’d like to study. Discover “origin”, “definition” and hear the original pronunciation – That Is Awesome!
Want more background? Click “Study Tools”, then pick a few commentaries to read their scholarly approach, keeping in mind that just because a commentary says it, doesn’t mean it’s true. (just like the internet :-))
Memorize It!
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