Love

Love

Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.

1 Peter 4:8

Ah, the beauty of being at peace with another, neither having to weigh thoughts or measure words, but spilling them out just as they are; chaff and grain together, certain that a faithful hand will keep what is worth keeping, and with a breath of kindness blow the rest away.

ARAB PROVERB

The Christian’s “love muscle” is called on to have amazing elasticity and flexibility. The wife of a company president sits and applauds her husband at a banquet where he is honored for his accomplishments, and yet she has also known him to lose his temper and act selfishly. We cheer on our child who is given a great honor at her school, fully aware of that child’s foibles and inconsistencies (as she is of ours). I’m thankful for friends and family who have seen me at both my better and worse moments but love me just the same.

Love covers. So where do we draw the line between showing a healthy amount of love that covers sins and ignoring sins to the point of enabling a person to continue in destructive behaviors or addictions?

Because of our sinful nature, we all have shortcomings and inconsistencies. As they surface from time to time, we stretch and forgive others as we hope they will do for us. However, if repetitive behaviors become destructive or addictive, God has given us healthy ways of dealing with bigger issues. In these cases, we are not wise to roll over and ignore the problems. (See Matthew 18:15-17; Luke 17:3; or Ephesians 5:3-11.)

Father,

Please give us grace to have flexible love muscles for daily family life and courage to deal with larger problems that demand special attention. Amen.