The Seed That Never Dies

1 Peter 1:22-23

Preparing a garden—cultivating the soil, watering regularly, managing the weeds—takes time and effort. But a gardener spends the least amount of time doing what is perhaps the most important task: choosing and planting the right seeds. Today’s passage applies that experience to cultivating Christian love. 

In the upper room, Jesus gave His disciples a “new commandment, that you love one another.” His people, He said, would be known by their love (John 13:34-35). This deep kind of love doesn’t grow naturally from the human heart. If we are to see love grow in our life, we need better seed.

As Peter says in today’s passage, fervent love for one another comes about when we are born again from the only “imperishable” seed—“the living and enduring word of God” (v. 23). It’s easy to read “word” here as “the Scriptures,” but as John’s gospel tells us, Jesus Himself is the Word (John 1:1-4). He is God’s Word of mercy and new creation, the source of our new birth.

But God has also given us His written Word to remind us of His work in the world and in us. Remind yourself today and every day of God’s work in you, cultivating the fruit of love through a fresh meeting with Jesus and through reading the Bible.

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