Thursday, September 10
Above all, maintain constant love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins.
—1 Peter 4:8
The reason we are so aware of imperfections in ourselves and others is because we perceive the garment of love as a short cape, rather than as a complete covering. In the enclosure of love, there is an understanding of the weakness of human nature, and a willingness to give a wider berth to that human nature.
It might seem that love simply hides the unsightly, keeping it from being a nuisance and eyesore. We may wonder if it is anything other than a mere “feel-good” kind of application that does nothing at all for the underlying truth of sin. Yet love is so powerful that it not only covers and contains imperfections, it creates the space for them to be transformed.
This is the power of love. When we miss the mark, we feel the struggle of conscience that usually has guilt nipping at its heels. But, if in spite of our mistakes, we allow love to wrap around us, we begin to become what love expects of us.
Only in love are our failures and mishaps redeemed, the imperfections smoothed away and our lives recovered from the inside out. And like a cloak whose warmth comforts each person wrapped within its folds, love shared one with another has gifts enough for all.
Gracious God, give me the heart of love that covers others when they have fallen and opens wide to receive the gift that can transform my soul.
