“𝘼𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙡, 𝙠𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮, 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙖 𝙢𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙞𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙨.”
1 Peter 4:8
The Apostle Peter isn’t saying that many of my sins are forgiven because I love, or that doing things motivated by love makes up for the fact that I do the wrong thing. He is saying that if we earnestly love one another we will overlook each others’ shortcomings and forgive one another.
Our sins are forgiven by God because they are covered by the blood of Jesus. We forgive each other because our sins are covered by the love we share for one another. Love covers a multitude of sins.
A family goes forward on mutual forgiveness. The day we stop forgiving one another, everything grinds to a halt. Marriages end. Brothers and sisters, parents and children; all these relationships depend on love, expressed in forgiveness, in order to continue.
So it is in a Church, too. The day we stop forgiving one another it all falls apart, because there is always something that needs to be forgiven. There will always be someone who will say or do something that others will have to overlook, if we are going to move forward.
Are you having trouble forgiving some one? Cheer up; next week it will be someone else needing to forgive you! The good news is that love covers a multitude of sins, and the love of God has been shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.
𝙇𝙤𝙧𝙙 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨, 𝙚𝙣𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙪𝙨 𝙗𝙮 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙃𝙤𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙥𝙞𝙧𝙞𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩. 𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙢𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙢𝙮 𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙨’ 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨; 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚. 𝙆𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙨 𝙬𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙞𝙣 𝙅𝙚𝙨𝙪𝙨’ 𝙣𝙖𝙢𝙚. 𝘼𝙢𝙚𝙣.
Pastor Dan Giles