1 Peter 1:22-25

Sincere love rules out hypocrisy, saying one thing and doing another. Pastor Todd also stressed that the command to love sincerely presupposes safe, deep, and meaningful relationships among the believers who make up the church. Some who listened to Todd’s sermon are already fully engaged in the life of our church. Others who listened to Todd’s sermon exist on the fringe of church life. They attend Sunday worship services, but that’s all. Perhaps they are shy and insecure; perhaps they are wary of the messiness that comes with relationship. Or perhaps they view church with a consumer mentality, preoccupied with rating the “product” they’re receiving. If you’re in that fringe group, reading this blog is a good first step toward engagement. Ask the Lord to awaken in you a thirst for fellowship and relationship. If you’re in the already-engaged group, ask the Lord to point you to someone on the fringe and to help you extend a hand and take an interest.

Agape, one of the Greek words Peter uses for love, is sacrificial love. It is an act of the will, not based in emotion. One way God strengthens our agape “muscle,” Todd said, is to put EGRP’s in our lives – Extra Grace Required People. They aren’t easy to love, and they don’t deserve it. If you show them love, they’ll probably complain about it. Todd said, only half in jest, that if you don’t know an EGRP, you might be one! Or maybe, like me, you give EGRP’s a wide berth. Ask God to bring an EGRP across your path in an unavoidable way and to use that person to stretch you and strengthen your ability to show agape love.

The kind of love Peter describes is supernatural; only God can give us the ability to love like that. Todd taught that God infuses us with the power we need as we spend time with Him in His word. Todd compared the Bible to a mirror – showing us what we’re really like – and a filter – removing impurities that pollute our lives. Do you ever think of time spent reading and pondering the Bible as a chore or as a nice extra for people who have more time than you do? Ask God to change your thinking so that you view time spent with your Bible as a personal meeting with God Himself – the Almighty God, your Creator and Redeemer, the King of the universe. And then, whatever passage of Scripture you’re in, ask God to use it to teach you how to love Him with all of your heart and soul and to love your “neighbors” in the Calvary congregation as yourself.

In Christ,
Carol Gilbert

This is an abbreviated version of the prayer blog. Contact us to subscribe to the full version, which includes personal prayer requests.