Pulling Up the Weeds

1 Peter 1:22 (NIV) says, Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. To love like that, he tells us that we need to rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind (1 Peter 2:1 (NIV). The love that God’s grace produces is proved as much by what we don’t do as it is by what we do do. Each of us needs to ask ourselves, “Was the love I showed others today a clear reflection of Christ’s love for me? Am I loving people well? Could I be loving people better?”

When the answer is “No,” we need to repent and ask God for forgiveness. When you do, you will not find God an angry judge, but a loving Father who longs to heal and restore and give you rest in His love. Once you have repented to your Father, go to the person or persons you have offended (intentionally or unintentionally) and ask for their forgiveness. Jesus thought doing this was so important that He goes so far as to say, Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24, NIV). In other words, if you are on your way to church and you remember that someone has been hurt by you, what God wants is for you to do is to get that resolved first, then come to worship. Repent to God, and as far as it is possible, as much as it depends on you, make things right with your brothers and sisters.

Along with that, we need to commit to ridding ourselves of things that are contrary to love. This needs done:

1. Consciously. It isn’t going to just happen. If we are not intentionally going about pulling up the weeds of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander from the soil of our hearts they will continue to grow and impede the growth of God’s love in our hearts. You cannot wish these things away, and leaving them be does more harm than good. As 1 Peter 1:18-19 says, For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. If God the Father saw our sin as so serious that He was willing to send His Son to die that it might be removed, should we not be consciously, intentionally, and intently working with Him to uproot it?
2. Constantly. We are fortunate to have a great perennial garden in our back yard; and I am fortunate enough to have a wife who loves to tend it. A great part of tending it is pulling up what is not supposed to be there, especially if it is harmful to what is growing there. It seems this work is never done. If the garden is in season, then there is constant work that needs done to tend it. The same is true with the things that impede love. As long as we are living, we need to be constantly about this work. Satan is always at work sowing weeds into our hearts. We will never be done this side of heaven, but we are to be constantly about this work nonetheless. God’s love is constant, so our love should be at work to make sure that our love is constant towards one another.
3. Consistently. We can’t be content to only work here and there, but must work everywhere we find the seeds of malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander in our hearts. We can’t pick and choose who to love well. We can’t be happy that we love some people better while at the same time being content to love others not so well. God loves His people consistently, equally; so our love should not have favorites but be given consistently to one another.
4. Completely. We should not be satisfied until all things that impede our love are gone.

When we do work to rid ourselves of things that are contrary to love, we create a community where love and holiness will flourish and grow. A community that people long to be a part of, where people find help and encouragement in their struggles, where burdens are gladly lifted by the person to their left and to their right, where anger is rare, where sins can be confessed without fear of reproach, where people are eager to serve one another, where humility and meekness abound because of confidence in the grace of Christ, where forgiveness and forbearance are easily found, and pride and fear are made scarce. A community that is close and connected and committed to one another, that prizes peace, practices patience, and lives on the joy they share together in Christ.

Isn’t that what Christ has called us to be? Is that not why He gave His life for us? Then let us come together with Him and make this happen and love one another in sincerity, deeply, and from the heart.