1 Peter 1:22-2:3 — Love Earnestly
Read
1 Peter 1:22-2:3
EXPLORE
Which group of people is Peter exhorting his readers to love? Everyone in general? Unbelievers? Those in the church?
How does Peter ground the call to love earnestly? (see v.23) What impact does this have on the reader? (hint: notice it’s similar to how he grounds the call to holiness in the first word of v.13)
Why do you think Peter selected the quote in v.24-25 to support his topic?
What is the “pure spiritual milk” of v.2? (use contextual clues) Now unpack the metaphor: what does it look like to crave this “milk” as an infant craves the milk of their mom?
Given the situation of Peter’s readers, why do you think he exhorts them to pursue their fellow church members with an earnest love (v.22) and crave spiritual milk (v.2)?
Apply
What does an earnest love from a pure heart toward your church family look like? Do you find it difficult to pursue your church family in this way?
In light of the above, what concrete steps can you take to grow and practice this over the next two weeks?
Peter has developed a theme of things that last and things that perish (v.4, 5, 7, 18, 23, 24 etc.). What perishable things capture your affections? How does a focus on these things erode your ability to love those in your church earnestly?
Does the way you crave spiritual milk resemble how an infant craves human milk? How does the metaphor encourage you to pursue God this way?
Pray
for one another, our church, our city