“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
What kind of love causes the world to recognize we are disciples of Christ? People say they love one another all the time. Then they gossip about them, lie about them and turn their backs on them as soon as they fall short of expectations. If all people will know that we are Christ’s disciples by our love for one another, then that love must be a different type of love.
What does this kind of love look like? Just as He loved us, we also are to love one another. God’s love for us caused Him to give His only Son as a final sacrifice for all mankind. This once-and-for-all price was paid to cover our past, present and future failures. Even with the knowledge that we would miss the mark over and again, His love for us was so deep and desire for fellowship so strong, He made sure the price He paid was great enough to cover it all. And as if that wasn’t enough, He then chooses not to even remember our faults – and who isn’t thankful for that?!
To love one another as Christ loved us means to love with sacrifice; to be willing to give what is in our possession to another who may need the thing we possess. Love is accepting. Love is forgiving. Love is generous. Love is observant. Love sees a need and looks for ways to meet it. Love celebrates the successes of others and grieves for their losses. Love chooses not to hold onto another’s faults.
Peter exhorts us to keep fervent in our love for one another, “because love covers a multitude of sin”. Does that mean we cover up sin in a way that allows us to continue in it? Not at all. The definition of the word, cover, as used in this scripture means to hide, veil, or hinder the knowledge of a thing. God’s love covered our sin with the blood of Christ so that when He looks at us, He sees us through the veil of redemption His blood provided. When we truly begin to understand what He did for us, it increases our capacity of love for others, which allows us to see them through the eyes of Christ, filtered through the blood that covers every sin and shortcoming. May we cover one another with the love of Christ so that all people will know that we are His disciples.
Proverbs 17:9 / ESV
He who conceals a transgression seeks love,
But he who repeats a matter separates intimate friends.
1 Peter 4:8 / ESV
Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
Colossians 3:13 / ESV
Bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other, as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
Ephesians 4:32 / ESV
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.
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