Holiness looks like love

Peter's call to be holy could easily turn into a list of rules. Instead, verse 22 lands somewhere else: "Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart." Purity here is not the goal in itself. It exists so that genuine love can happen.

In the session, Jeff Reed noticed that a conversation about church discipline had led straight back to this verse. Not keeping every commandment, he said, nothing we can achieve on our own: "Holiness is tied to loving one another deeply from a pure heart." And he went further. Digital ministry gives us the chance to love a whole lot more people that way.

That is a striking claim for a medium often blamed for shallow connection. But a chat, a server or a group thread is full of people who need to be loved deeply, and from a pure heart: without an angle, without needing their attention back. Holiness online is not a filter we apply to others. It is the way we love them.

Today, pick one person you know mainly through a screen. Love them on purpose. Send the message you have been meaning to send, pray for them by name, or answer them with patience instead of speed. Then ask God to purify the motives underneath it, so that your love is genuine and not a performance.