Life-changing Love

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. I Peter 4:8

Jesus is the perfect one to emulate who gave profound love the way each individual needed.

For some, His love totally overlooked the sin and spoke kindly to the sinner,

“Go and sin no more (to the woman caught in adultery),”
“If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water (to the woman at the well),” or
“’Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.’ And his servant was healed at that moment (to the unworthy centurion).”

To others He spoke in confrontational, plain speech to expose their terrible Pharisaical choices or He turned over tables at the temple.
Jesus told the Pharisees, “Woe to you” many times!
He said to the money changers, “‘My house will be called a house of prayer,’ but you are making it ‘a den of robbers.’”

Love is given both ways from us as well. A parent will lovingly correct his child. A friend will call out another friend when he is in the wrong. A preacher will preach truth to his listeners. Married couples, who know about their spouse more than anyone else, will sometimes communicate hard things so their relationship can better thrive.

However, today, let’s assume this verse is trying very hard to remind us that it is not always our job to set everyone straight every moment of our lives. In fact, we would do well to set straight how we respond to others in love. We would have enough on our plates if our endeavors were spent on such a task! We would choose not to be so outspoken every little misbehavior. We would learn to simply let go.

Such a monumental deed would be unfathomable in it’s far-reaching influence to those around us! What an accomplishment would be achieved, maybe not for all situations, but for more than we offer at present. Moving towards forming such love into a habit would be life-changing for all involved.

Love is an action verb, and sometimes, that means to cover over a multitude of sins.

The action of loving with our whole heart begins in our thought-life. Our minds drive everything we do! If we don’t love in our thoughts, we probably aren’t going to carry through with overlooking that person’s fault.

My thoughts must be taken captive and made obedient to Christ (II Cor. 10:5). They lead me in every way regarding relationships around me.

When I am at my best and in the midst of conflict, I wonder, “How would I like to be treated if I was in their shoes?”

If people gave me the benefit of the doubt, what a blessing that would be. Maybe their thoughts would be generous and kind,
“I know her. This is not how she would typically respond. Perhaps something deeper is going on. I’ll pray for her,” or,
“Man, I’d like to tell her a thing or two, but my heart is telling me to respond in kindness despite how she just made me feel.”

The cold shoulder or angry accusations make me feel misunderstood and hurt for a very long time. When someone starts a fight with me or tries to make themselves look good at my expense, it only aggravates and makes the relationship worse for the wear. But love that ignores the ill-will, I just spoke or did, or tries to understand what’s going on with me, changes me. I am more willing to make amends and work on the relationship.

Certainly, loving deeply and covering over a multitude of sins is a pretty tall order. After all, that other person did wrong. They don’t ‘deserve’ my kindness. They deserve to be brought down in my vicious gossip and subdued, bitter distance.

In the long run, however, though the other person feels my wrath, I’m the one who suffers most in my self-made prison of unforgiveness. My hateful tones simply beget more hate. My anger begets more anger. Unkindness begets unkindness.

If I’m going to pass anything on at all, I want it to be grace – covering over the sins of others. I want to intensely and freely give my love. I want forgiveness to become easier as time goes by because it’s who I am.

Loving in this way means that I persevere through the hard times of hurt. I surrender myself to the Lord with all my heart and leave my life and the other person’s life in his hands. Such pursuits bring me closer to Jesus and to a minute understanding of all that He did for me. It means I unify myself with those around me, and resist holding grudges.

I visualize a hand coming down over the unkindness spoken to or about me and covering it where no one else can see, and the hand is my hand of love (done only through the power of a Mighty God). I make it hard for others to know about these flaws or mistakes of others (including myself). I practice dismissing offensive circumstances and immediately give the burden over to the Lord. I even make it nothing in both of our eyes, praying for them and asking God to forgive their guilt, just as I ask for help in forgiving. I train myself to speak highly to and about my offender to others around me.

These things take time to learn. But the more I apply today’s verse to my life, the more awe inspired is my heart. In fact, I had a situation during the writing of this blog. My mind kept playing over and over again, “love deeply” and “cover over a multitude of sins.” It was the right thing to do. It was an intentional, loving choice in which I found a piece of God’s compassion and mercy living inside me.

This kindness is not about letting others go scot-free in their ‘crimes’ against us, but about drawing them and ourselves back to the very best God has for us in following His ways.

Lord, this blog was hard to take into my soul. I do not pretend to be anywhere near the thoughts I’ve written in this post, but I want to be. Help my love to keep no record of wrongs from the past and to refuse the trap of easily becoming anger. Instead, show me how to be patient and to protect, trust, hope and persevere, all in the name of the love of the Lord. In Jesus name, Amen.