love thy neighbor (easier said than done)

...continued from part one.

"Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart..." (1 Peter 1:22)

 I look at these words and read them again and think,

"Lord, that's harder than you'd think...loving someone. But to love earnestly? I'm not sure if I can do that at all."

So I search for this word "earnestly" in the thesaurus. To be honest, I am hoping to find out that it means something much...easier than it sounds. Something more reasonable, something I can maybe do from a distance, part-time. Here's what I find:
actively,
intently,
fervently,
passionately...


This is not what I was hoping. How am I to love her like this? I don't feel like I have it in me. In theory, I know that God knows what He's doing and knows how difficult it is for us to love sometimes, but in the moment, I'm thinking, "Lord, why don't YOU love her, and leave someone else to me? Someone nicer, more considerate, more receptive?"

But it's the Bible...I've got to believe it, obey. I've got to figure out what this really means. I look up the passage and discover that in all of scripture, this word "earnestly" is only used by Simon Peter, and wasn't it he who denied His love for Christ? 


I read that it comes from the Greek word "ektenés." I learn that it means

"...to stretch, signifying intense strain, intently, strenuously, pulled wholly out, completely taut at maximum potential, without slack because fully extended to its necessary outcome."

At this moment, everything makes sense all at once. This sincere, earnest love Peter asks us to show for one another, it isn't easy. God knows that. I don't feel happy this day, I feel stretched. And that's exactly how I'm supposed to feel.


Peter goes on to say, 

"...love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God..." (vs. 22-23)

Our former ignorance and futile ways kept us from loving at maximum potential, but we have been born again! We were ransomed and purified and adopted into an imperishable family! We are capable of so much now...but it will sometimes feel like a stretch.


So when the Lord says, "Do you love me?" what will I feel I can say? Have I loved earnestly? Simon Peter looked at our Christ and said, "Yes Lord, you know that I love you." And he did look after the lambs. 


Through Christ, we are capable. Put the past behind you, take the leap. You can love the tough-to-love.

Today is a new day.

everly

{all photo credit due here}