The Covering of Love
August 15, 2019
Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. Cheerfully share your home with those who need a meal or a place to stay.
God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. 1 Peter 4:8-11 NLT
Jesus famously told us as His followers that we would be known for and recognizable by the love we exhibit. Its kindness, consistency, and depth would be so different that it defines us. All the New Testament authors focused on the love issue as being critical to the life of a true follower. Most actions of love require some willingness to stretch and be uncomfortable, but they always lead to great reward.
Today Peter shares some very practical outcomes of love. He has just finished telling us that since Jesus Christ has suffered, died, and rose again, we should make changes in response. He tells us that the degrading, sinful, callous way we used to live is no longer satisfying. He says that now we can live differently. We can live soberly (or intentionally with a strong mind) and alert. It’s so different that our lives call people to attention and wonder. Then he says, “Above all, even more than anything else, our deep love is important.” Love is the thing.
Love is the thing most needed:
- It will make forgiveness and acceptance possible, even easy. Love doesn’t make an issue of flaws and mistakes, it “covers a multitude of sins.” When a big, steady snowstorm descends, it covers the “sins” of my yard and landscaping, and all I see is beauty. A “skiff” is not enough. I look at others with the marvelous filter of love, and issues disappear.
- It makes us generous with our resources, particularly the intimate ones. It’s interesting that our current culture has bigger houses, with multiple bedrooms and much entertainment space, but we have fewer guests and entertain less than ever. Willingly assuming the slight discomfort and inconvenience of sharing your own home shouts love. Jesus chose a meal for us to remember Him because sharing a meal together creates closeness and intimacy. Sharing our home and food with people is a display of great love.
- It moves our gifts away from self-focus (What can these abilities do for me?) to joy and enthusiastic generous service to others. You are glad they need you, and you are excited to give what you can give.
The result is that people are loved and helped, we are stronger and very satisfied as we work with God, and Christ gets the glory.
- Who, when, and how can I love deeply today?