The apostle Peter offers this direct word, “Love one another earnestly from a pure heart!” I Peter 1:22
The word “earnest” carries the sense of reaching out eagerly and resolutely, like a runner racing to the finish line or a parent chasing a child wandering into danger.
So, this kind of earnest love for one another isn’t casual or necessarily easy. It’s focused, urgent unrelenting, exactly like God’s earnest love for us!
Note that Peter says we are to love earnestly from a pure hear, a heart with no agenda other than the well-being and joy of the other person.
