Read with me, “ Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
1 Peter 4:8
What does 1 Peter 4:8 mean for us today? Love covers a multitude of sins, ours and those of others. Sins, unfair treatments, ignorances, arrogances, dismissals, hurts, lies, and pride are just some of the everyday things people do that I can think of that easily causes offence in our hearts. Every single time we are faced with situations that include offence, we get the honour of choosing love! In honor we get to cover that person rather than hammer on the wrongs. There is no greater love than laying down your life for your friend. Covering someone’s sin looks something like this – saying no to vengeance, saying no to always having the last say, not needing to be right, forgiving, not reminding someone of their faults – while being right. Laying down your life for someone requires you to remove your own will and opinion from the equation. Essentially, this means saying NO to myself, and saying YES to love. The greatest commandment is to love, and if this is particularly difficult, it could be due to the fact that too much of ourselves are still in the way of loving the way Jesus demonstrated. There is a beauty that comes with loving someone deeply, it speaks of selflessness. It sets the other person free from guilt and condemnation. Love liberates them, and us. Love covers. While the blood of Jesus washes us clean of sin and we do not possess the power to rid someone of their sins, we do however possess the power of choice to cover them in love. What a dynamic way to live like Jesus, laying down our lives in order that someone else could be free. Let your life speak of the love of God, let your life demonstrate the practicality of dying to self. Let your life proclaim that He is Love.
Read with me, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:12-13
Would your relationships look any different once you realised true love means laying down you life for someone else, persistently seeking the well-being of another above your own? True love inspires compassion as opposed to anger, patience instead of irritation, Godly love covers, it doesn’t expose and humiliate. Laying down your life for someone you love could very well mean you keep quiet and let them speak, you allow them to have an opinion, you listen to understand. There is no I in love, it is not self-seeking, aka I am not thinking of me when dealing with you. Fighting? Let love win.
Pray with me, “ “God, thank you for providing us with a love that covers us and sets us free. Your love is amazing. Help me recognise it and embrace it. I pray that You empower me to live this love out loud. Let me love people to freedom. Help me forgive as I have been forgiven, and love as I am loved. “
