Bible Text: 1 Peter 4:7-11 | Preacher: Pastor Joe Ricchuiti | Series: 1 Peter, While We Wait

1. Among the duties which Peter enjoins upon Christians, as we wait for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ, is the primacy of love for each other. Love can be commanded because “agape” (the Greek word used for love here) is primarily a commitment of the will to the one loved, not primarily emotional attachment.
2. Peter calls for us to love “deeply,” a word which “describes the taunt muscle of an athlete who strains to win a race” (Roger Raymer), that is, with eagerness and intensity.
3. Larry Richards (Personal Ministry Handbook) calls love “the key to effectiveness in our ministry.” He cites 14 observations about love and ministry: love is basic to ministering relationships; love is to be expressed in forgiveness; love is expressed in seeking to meet other’s needs; love is expressed in the unity and harmony which are to mark the relationships in Christ’s church; love is expressed in a non-judgmental attitude toward others (not an acceptance of sin but freedom in the gray areas); love is expressed by accepting and caring for all, not just those we’re drawn to; love is expressed in honesty and openness in our relationships with others; love is expressed by encouraging and serving others, having a servant’s heart; love is expressed by confronting sin in our fellow Christians; love is expressed by controlling our talk about others; love is expressed in a attitude of humility toward others; and love is to be expressed to non-Christians as well as to fellow believers.