I started to meditate on 1 Peter 3:8. It says, “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous.” It goes right along with 1 Peter 1:22 and, “…love one another fervently with a pure heart.”

There is a great illustration of everyone being of one mind in Acts 2. About 120 were gathered, praying and seeking the Lord. Verse 1 says, “When the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.”

The Strong’s definition for one accord: being unanimous, being in agreement, having group unity, having one mind and one purpose. In my mind, I picture it like this. Anyone that had any negative thought, or unresolved issues with anyone in the room, had to have resolved it.

Think about it in your own life at family or church gatherings. Is there one accord and harmony? Philippians 2:1 called it comfort of love, fellowship of the Spirit, affection, and mercy. Verse 2 uses the words like-minded, same love, one accord, one mind.

1 Corinthians 13:6 Amplified says of love, “It does not rejoice at injustice and unrighteousness, but rejoices when right and truth prevail.” 

Verse 7 says, “Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything (without weakening).”

Verse 8 says, “Love never fails (never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end).” God’s love is eternal. Jeremiah 31:3 says, “The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you.”

In love, God the Father gave His only begotten Son. Jesus died for our sins because of love. He imparts His love to us, so that we may express His sacrificial love to others. 

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 are templates to follow. He uses our adversities. in our journey of progressive sanctification Like a signet ring pressed into wax, His truth applies pressure to mold our character. 2 Peter 1:4 says that, “…you may be partakers of the divine nature…”

1 Peter 1:22 is a command for us. It says, “…love one another fervently with a pure heart.” I researched the Greek meaning in several verses. My conclusion? 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 in the Amplified gives us a working definition.

As you read it, take your spiritual temperature. Verse 4 says, “Love endures long and is patient and kind; love never is envious nor boils over with jealousy, is not boastful or vainglorious, does not display itself haughtily.” Boils over speaks of something that was left unattended.

Verse 5 says, “It is not conceited (arrogant and inflated with pride); it is not rude (unmannerly) and does not act unbecomingly. Love (God’s love in us) does not insist on its own right or its own way, for it is not self-seeking; it is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it (it pays no attention to a suffered wrong).”

Note that what Paul wrote is only possible when we are extending God’s love that is placed in our hearts at salvation. It is impossible in our flesh.

In our fleshly reactions, we will contaminate our hearts as well as those around us. Consider difficult people as sandpaper, or a sculptor’s chisel. The Lord uses adversity to conform us to His image. 

The famous sculptor Michelangelo said, “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.” So it is with us! The Lord sees us as righteous. We will stand before Him faultless. 

Our sanctification is progressive. We live in a contaminated world. Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t be conformed to this world…” 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world…”

Jesus prayed in John 17:15, “I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.” Satan’s most powerful weapon is deceit. The pure in heart will see God. Matthew 5:8. That means that we will be sensitive to what the Lord is doing around us so we can join Him.

Romans 5:5 says, “Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” It is not our love but His. God is love. 1 John 4:8.

It isn’t our faith ~ it is His. Romans 12:3 says, “…as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” The faith He gave us to believe, is strengthened and established in our walk with Him. 2 Peter 1:5-7. We add to our faith through: virtue, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, love.

Though we received God’s love into our hearts at salvation, we are the only ones in charge of our thoughts. Negative thoughts against others will be like dirt thrown on top of His love. 

Sincere, fervently, and pure are words that define how we are to live in a way that pleases the Lord. All three require heart integrity. That means that there is no duplicity or pretense. Genuine love is expressed as we abide in Him. Remember that apart from Him, we can do nothing. John 15:5.

I have been meditating on 1 Peter 1:22 for several weeks. Several words in the verse have really challenged my understanding. Never before did I realize that the first part is about our standing in Christ. The last part is about our state. It is a command to obey and prosper in our journey of progressive sanctification. 

It says, “Since you have purified your souls in obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart.”

The only way our souls are purified is through the gospel. When we hear it, the Holy Spirit convicts us of sin, righteousness, and the judgment to come. John 16:8. In Mark 4:13-20 Jesus explained the parable of the sower.

Verse 14 says, “The sower sows the word.” According to verse 20, the ones who get saved are, “…those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit: some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred.” Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing the word. We hear, obey, and receive His love into our hearts.

You are chosen. Ephesians 1:4 says, “Just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love.”

You are sealed for eternity. Ephesians 1:13 says, “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.”

The above verses are declarations of who you are at salvation ~ not what you are trying to be. Speak them out loud. The enemy of our soul accuses us through fiery darts. Declaring who you are ~ is taking up the shield of faith. Ephesians 6:16 says that it will quench ALL the fiery darts.

Psalm 116:10 which says, “I believed, therefore I spoke, I am greatly afflicted.” Our spoken words come from what we believe in our hearts. Our beliefs are formed from our experiences, which become our perceptions.

As we renew our minds with the truth of God’s word, we will live it out through our thoughts, words, and actions.

You are a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5:17. You are the righteousness of God in Christ. Verse 21 says, “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

You are loved with an eternal love. Romans 8:38-39 says, “…neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

You are light. Matthew 5:14, 16 says, “You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”

You are bought with a price. 1 Corinthians 6:20 says, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

You are redeemed. Ephesians 1:7 says, “In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace.”

Let’s pickup the account of the man at the Pool of Bethesda. John 5:5 says, “Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.” That is a long time! In verse 6, Jesus asked him, “…Do you want to be well?” The man did not answer the Lord’s question.

In verse 7 he said, “…Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool…” Jesus did not hear faith, yet He healed him immediately. Though the man was distracted by looking at man, the Lord revealed Himself to him as a Healer. Note verse 14. It says, “…See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

Whether the Lord heals us or not, He desires faith in Him alone. Isaiah 43:7 says, “Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.”

Romans 8:29. Our trials, no matter what classification, are working to conform us to His image. We are to exemplify Him through every aspect of our lives.

Does the Lord hear faith through your thoughts? Galatians 3:5 says, “Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?”

Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” The Lord is pleased when He hears faith through our thoughts, conversations, and through our prayers.

James 5:15 says, “And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sin, he will be forgiven.” This verse clearly states that sickness can be the result of sin.

Yet in John 9 we see another reason. Jesus saw a man blind from birth. In verse 2 His disciples asked, “…who sinned, this man or his parents…?” Verse 3 says, “…Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him.”