G.M.L. (aka "Genuine Mutual Love")

"Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have genuine mutual love, love one another deeply from the heart."

(1 Peter 1:22)

The Beatles proclaimed, "All you need is love!" As a culture, we love LOVE! We use that word all... the... time! We love certain foods, cell phones, music groups, tv shows, clothing styles, etc. We tell people that we "send our love." And to our most intimate relationships, we confess, "I love you!" Such a variety of uses and contexts for the simple four-letter word: love.

And yet, the author of 1 Peter challenges his/her readers to go one (or two) step further: work toward "genuine mutual love." It's been said that men have few genuine friendships (and pastors have even fewer!). We have a lot of acquaintances, yes... but few where we exhibit genuine mutual love. Is it too hard? Too much effort needed? Is it too intimate? We're called to "love deeply from the heart." To invest in others. To make the time to spend in relationship building. To share our joys, pains, and sorrows. That's GML - genuine mutual love. Loving deeply from the heart.

LORD, help me to foster a few deep and loving relationships in my life. That I may truly know and be known by others, as you have desired for me. AMEN.