Love One Another

Preached by Pastor Chad Rickenbaker on July 12, 2026 [watch online] | 1 Peter 1:22–2:3 (NKJV)

1 Peter — “Love One Another”

Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because “All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but the word of the LORD endures forever.” Now this is the word which by the gospel was preached to you.

Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.

—1 Peter 1:22–2:3 (NKJV)

In college I majored in religion and minored in sociology, which means I never took a single marketing class. So I had to look up the words. A brand, I found, is the cumulative reputation built through every interaction a person has with an entity. Branding is the continuous process of creating a unique, recognizable identity and reputation. Marketing and branding are big business — $358 billion spent every year in the United States alone, with Coca-Cola by itself spending some $4 billion on advertising and brand presence.

Here is what may surprise you: Jesus gave a branding statement. It is not our primary text this morning, but turn with me to John 13, on the night before the cross, and listen to what He tells His disciples.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

—John 13:34–35

That is a branding statement. Notice the scope of it. In this context Jesus is speaking about how Christians are to love one another — brothers and sisters in Christ. We are certainly called to love others; Jesus went on to say we are to love even our enemies. But here He is talking about the family. And He says this is how everyone will know you belong to Me. This will be your reputation. This will be your identifiable marker. This will be your brand.

His disciples clearly caught it. Years later the apostle John wrote it down again:

And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

—1 John 4:21

And Peter — who heard Jesus say it in that upper room — says the same thing to a scattered, suffering church. As we continue our study through 1 Peter, we come to 1 Peter 1:22 through 2:3, and we are going to use two simple questions to unpack it. First: what are we to do? Second: how are we to do it?

What Are We to Do? We Are to Love One Another

The first answer is as plain as it can be. Look at verse 22: “Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another…” Stop there for a moment, because Peter is making an extremely close connection between whatever this purifying of the soul is and the love you have for other believers.

Start with the word since. Whatever Peter means by the purifying of your soul, it has already happened. It is settled. So what is it? He says you purified your souls “in obeying the truth,” and most commentators agree the truth Peter has in mind is the truth of the gospel. The word gospel means good news. The bad news comes first: every person ever born is born with a sin nature, all of us have transgressed God’s law, and the penalty for sin is death — eternal separation from God. The good news is that God, in His love, gave His Son to live the sinless life we failed to live and to die on the cross as our substitute, taking our penalty, so that whoever believes in Him is forgiven and brought back to God.

And how do you obey the gospel? The gospel calls for a response, and that response is repentance and faith. So when Peter says you have obeyed the truth, he means: you heard the gospel, you turned from your sin, you believed on Jesus for your salvation — and your soul was purified. Your sins were washed clean. Here is how I would summarize verse 22: since you’ve been saved, you love each other. Not merely since — because you’ve been saved, you love each other. This love is a byproduct of salvation.

And you need to understand: this kind of love is not natural. It does not come naturally to a fallen heart. That is precisely why Peter grounds the command where he does. Look at verse 23: “having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever.” You have been born again — the same thing Jesus said to Nicodemus:

Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’

—John 3:7

We are born again by the incorruptible, indestructible word of God. Everything else fades and passes away; the word of the Lord endures forever. And being born again means you have a new heart and a new nature — with new capacities. Including the capacity to love the way Jesus commanded you to love. Peter says as much in his second letter:

…by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

—2 Peter 1:4

That does not mean you become God when you get saved. It means God puts something of His own nature in you so that you can do what He has called you to do.

Our son David has two dogs — a black Lab and a walker treeing coonhound. They amaze me, because they are both dogs and they are nothing alike. The Lab has two passions in life: eating and retrieving. Throw a ball in the yard and she is going after it; she cannot help herself. It is bred into her. Put that same ball in front of the coonhound and she will walk over, look at it, and leave it lying there. It is simply not in her nature to bring it back.

But turn that coonhound loose in the woods at night and she tears out like you shot her from a cannon, nose in hyperdrive, hunting the scent of a raccoon — and when she finds the tree, she will plant herself at the base of it, try to climb it, and bark like there is no tomorrow. Take the Lab into those same woods and she will stand beside you or go looking for a snack. It would never occur to her to tree a coon. One was bred to retrieve. One was bred to tree. It is in their nature.

Christian, by virtue of being born again of the incorruptible seed of God’s word, what has been bred into you is loving other Christians. (You may now check “be compared to a coon dog in a sermon” off your bucket list. You’re welcome.) Before you were saved, it probably never occurred to you that you ought to have a special love for other believers. But now you find yourself drawn to this peculiar group of people, and drawn to the church — because that is where you find them. That is not an accident. That is your new nature.

How Are We to Do It? Fervently and with a Pure Heart

Now the second question. Verse 22 does not just say love one another; it says love one another “fervently with a pure heart.” I could not find one perfectly clear answer as to what Peter means by that, so let me tell you what I read. One writer says fervently is an athletic term — the picture of every muscle straining. You are giving great effort to love your brothers and sisters in Christ. (Perhaps that is because some Christians are harder to love than others. I wouldn’t know.) You are putting your heart into it. There is passion. You are invested. Another writer says it carries the idea of endurance: you do not love your brothers and sisters for a season, but in all occasions, in all circumstances, through every kind of interaction.

But we are not left guessing, because Jesus already set the standard. “Love one another as I have loved you.” He is not leaving us the prerogative of deciding what this looks like. He is establishing the gold standard of brotherly love, and the standard is Himself. Which means I have to ask: what are the characteristics of Christ’s love for me?

First, He loves us unconditionally:

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

—Romans 5:8

God did not say, get yourself sorted out, straighten up, break that habit, behave in a worthy manner — then I’ll love you. He acted sacrificially toward us before we had done a thing to get our act together. So if His love is the standard, then my love for you must reflect that same unconditional quality.

Second, His love is sacrificial — which needs little explanation, since He died for us. If His love for me is the gold standard by which I love you, then I should hold your needs above my own and be willing to sacrifice myself for your good. And third, His love forgives. That is the hallmark of everything He has done for us.

The Bible has more to say about it, of course — in the chapter on love. This next passage we read from the screen not in the New King James, but in the New Living Translation. Feel free at any point in this description to say “oh me,” “ouch,” or “amen.”

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Prophecy and speaking in unknown languages and special knowledge will become useless. But love will last forever!

—1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (NLT)

Love never gives up. They are not there yet — but love never gives up. They are not as far along as I wish they were — but love never gives up. They are not responding the way I think they ought to respond — but love never gives up. That is how the Bible describes love, and that is how we are to relate to one another.

Lay Aside What Doesn’t Fit Your New Nature

To obey this command — to love fervently and with a pure heart — some things are going to have to go. Peter knew it, so he addresses it head-on in chapter two, verse one: “Therefore, laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking…” It is the picture of taking off a dirty garment. You have to get it off. You have to get rid of it.

Do not miss the implication buried in that little word therefore. Because you have been born again, because your soul has been purified through repentance and faith, because you are saved — these things no longer fit you. They do not fit your new heart. They do not fit your new nature. What fits your new nature is loving sincerely and fervently. So put them aside.

And notice the connection Peter makes next: “as newborn babes, desire the pure milk of the word, that you may grow thereby.” He is not saying his readers were spiritual infants. His point is about appetite. What does a newborn baby do when it wants milk? It cries and screams and pitches a fit until it gets it, because that is how strong the desire is — and as it takes the milk in, it is nourished and it grows. Peter is saying that the same way a baby craves milk for physical growth, you and I should crave the word of God for spiritual growth.

But here is the sober part. If we harbor malice, if we practice deceit and hypocrisy and evil speaking, those things will quench that appetite. They will diminish our desire for the pure word of God by which we grow. They become a hindrance, a stumbling block, something that keeps you from growing. So when you hold onto that stuff — yeah, but they did this to me — you know who is actually being hurt? Not the person you think. It is you. It hurts your spiritual growth. It hurts your testimony. And, if I may borrow the language: it hurts our brand as disciples of Christ. Because our brand is supposed to be that we love one another.

So when the outside community looks at Berea First Baptist Church — which, by the way, is you and me — what does it see? They do not see us in this room. They see us at work. They see us in the community. They see us in how we relate to the world outside this gathering. What is the brand that is actually true of us? Are we conveying the love Jesus said should characterize His people?

And notice that Peter says all malice, all deceit, all evil speaking. I think he means the entirety of it — do not hold any of it back. But I also think he means it in any form or shape those things might take.

Hurting People Hurt People

Remember the context of this letter. Peter is writing to Christians who are under persecution. They are suffering. They are grieving. They are being afflicted, he tells us, by all manner of trials. And one of the times you most need the love of your brothers and sisters in Christ is precisely when you are enduring trials of various kinds — when you are suffering, when you are grieving. That is when you need your church family.

I do not know what your experience with hardship has been. I can only tell you from mine: I would not want to go through it without a church family. Can you imagine living through some of the things life brings without the love of God’s people? It is as though Peter knew it.

But there is another element here. Have you heard the expression hurting people hurt people? I wonder if Peter was familiar with it too. He knows that if these believers do not bring a biblical perspective to their suffering, it is altogether likely that they will take their pain and turn it on someone else. Suffering will either lead you into a deeper knowledge of God or it will lead you away from Him and away from others. It will draw you into closer fellowship with your brothers and sisters, or it will drive you away from them.

“But They Don’t Deserve It”

When you look at this calling — love fervently, with a pure heart, lay aside all malice and envy and deceit and hypocrisy and evil speaking — some of us think: yes, but this person isn’t worthy of it. After all, they said this. They did that. They don’t deserve it. And let us be honest: we have all felt that. Someone said or did something that wounded us, and when we were called to forgive, called to love, something in us said, they don’t deserve that.

I love that Peter knows how we think. Watch how he closes this section, in verse three: “if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious.” He does not mean if in the sense of maybe you have and maybe you haven’t. He means because you have. Because you have tasted that the Lord is gracious to you.

So what is grace? Undeserved favor. Now let me ask you a follow-up question: how much grace has God given you? Unmerited favor means you did not deserve it — in fact, what you deserved was the opposite of what He gave you. So how much grace have you received? I have had to apply this to my own life when I think about people who have wronged me, and here is the perspective I have to take: the greatest transgression in any relationship is the transgression I have committed against God. And as the recipient and beneficiary of the grace of God, how can I then refuse to give the very grace I have been given?

One of the harshest parables Jesus ever told was the parable of the unmerciful servant. A man was forgiven a debt he could never repay — and then went out and seized a fellow servant who owed him a fraction of it, threatening him and throwing him into prison. And Jesus reserved His hardest words for that man:

Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’

—Matthew 18:32–33 (see 18:23–35)

The harshest words Jesus had were for the servant who had received mercy and was unwilling to give it.

So How Do We Love Each Other Today?

God’s word is telling us that the way we love one another has a direct impact on our spiritual growth. So let me give you a quick list — practical ways to love your brothers and sisters in Christ.

1. Talk to them. When you come to church, find someone you haven’t talked to lately and have a conversation.

2. Be a good listener. When you talk to someone, make sure you are not doing all the talking. Leave them room to share.

3. Give them some time. The most valuable commodity we have is time. One of the greatest ways to express love is to share yours with someone else.

4. See something, say something. I don’t mean be a tattletale. I mean when you see someone doing good, when you see someone doing what is right — tell them. “I saw what you did. I want you to know I thank God for that.”

5. Invite stories. “Would you tell me about something in your life?”

6. Pray and follow up. When someone shares a need, pray about it — and then the next week, ask them about it.

7. Be aware of their suffering. Be aware of it, and where you can, enter into it with empathy and seek to understand.

8. Show patience and humility.

What Step Will You Take?

Let me close with two questions. First: where is the broken relationship you need to address, and what is God leading you to do about it? Because what I see in this text is that God is not leaving us room to leave it unaddressed. I do not see any escape clauses here. I see a clear mandate, a clear presentation of what is expected of us as Christians. He has not left us the latitude to say, “well, I may or may not deal with that; I’ll have to see.” He is calling us to seek the restoration of relationship.

Second: what step will you take today? Maybe there is no relational division in your life at all — and if so, that is wonderful. Then what practical action can you take to love your brothers and sisters beyond what you are already doing? If you are already doing it, keep doing it. What can you add?

One of the most challenging things we will face in the Christian life is the way we relate to one another, because we are all so flawed, all so imperfect. Some genuinely tragic things happen in our lives; some wounds are deep and profound. None of this is meant to minimize any of that. It is real. It is serious. There needs to be grace and mercy on all sides, and we are going to need divine help to live this out. But understand: if we give our adversary an opportunity at all, he will sow bitterness in our hearts — and that bitterness will drive a wedge between us and God, and between us and other people. And the one most hurt by it will not be the other person. It will be you. It will be me.

It is a high calling. It is the gold standard of love. So may we practically apply it in such a way that it becomes our brand — that what we are known for, as individuals, as families, and as a church, is this uncommon love: a sacrificial love, an unconditional love, a forgiving love, a gracious love.

Scripture references in this message: 1 Peter 1:22–2:3 (anchor); John 13:34–35; 1 John 4:21; John 3:7; 2 Peter 1:4; Romans 5:8; 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 (NLT); Matthew 18:23–35. Quoted from the New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Want to go deeper? Join us Sunday mornings, or find a small group where this kind of love is practiced week by week, at Berea First Baptist Church.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.