When we think about that kind of love, a couple of important questions come to mind: what does that kind of love look like, and how can we sustain it? Peter is going to touch on those questions in our text for today, so let’s take a look at how he answers them. Regardless of where we might think we are with respect to a goal like that, it’s always good for us to remember that that kind of mutual love is, in fact, one of our goals as a church. If people outside our church today were to take a careful look at us, would their overall impression be, “Those people sure love each other!” If people slandered our Christian faith, could we say, “You know, they’re probably a bit jealous of us because we have such a good thing going on here with our love for each other.” There is much food for thought in that quote. See how they love one another, they say, for they themselves are animated by mutual hatred how they are ready even to die for one another, they say, for they themselves will sooner put to death (The Apology, ch. Here is what Tertullian wrote: “It is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. His statement highlighted a quality that will be the focus of our study of 1 Peter today. In his work, he wrote at one point that these attacks against Christianity were made out of jealousy, because Christians displayed a character of life that their pagan neighbors did not possess. To clear the air and defend the good name of Christianity, a church leader in Carthage named Tertullian wrote a brief explanation of Christian practices and a critique of the unjust accusations that had been made against them. Wild rumors had begun to circulate in some places about what Christians actually taught and did in their meetings together. At that time, Christians were the objects of great suspicion from their neighbors and government officials because they had given up the behaviors of their previously pagan lifestyle. As the second century of Christianity began to unfold, the faith had spread throughout the Roman Empire-particularly to some of its great cities, like Rome and Carthage in North Africa.

To love one another bible verse