LOVE COVERS
And she said with a smile on her face and a sweet chuckle, “Love covers!” We all laughed while recognizing the powerful truth of God’s Word in action! This sweet memory occurred on a hot summer day while driving Southern California’s infamous 91 Freeway, also known as the 91 Freeway Parking Lot. A group of us women were headed to Orange County for a ministry meeting when I began to experience my own personal summer! I pushed every button on my friends’ car console trying to get colder air conditioning going. Instead of colder air conditioning, her emergency flashers began flashing while smack dab in the middle of steady work traffic! “Yikes! I’m sorry!” Yes, love covers over . . .
It was about six months earlier when the Lord began to download this verse directly into my heart. I had no idea how far and wide the applications would flow. . . And not just for my own love covers opportunities, but for others to love cover me! It’s a very humbling thing to be covered by so much love in so many ways!
Peter said, “Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8). If love can cover over not just a sin, a lot of sins, many sins, but a multitude of sins—how much more can love cover over: misunderstandings, hurt feelings, perceived offenses, and simple mistakes?
Most of our daily frustrations have nothing to do with sin at all, but rather with the effects of daily life; living with our flawed selves and other flawed people! So how do we practice this command by Peter? What does it look and feel like?
Let’s start with where the love comes from. Paul tells us, “For the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Romans 5:5) You see, the love is there! We don't create it or produce it any way. It is simply given to us. And it’s not ordinary love but the perfect, pure, and undefiled love of God. God’s love actually lives in our hearts! The word “poured” from this verse in the Greek means: gush out, run greedily out, to spill forth. It’s easy to catch the vision that there is more than enough love to cover over anything we meet with throughout each and every day!
Love Covers Over in Action
1. Acknowledge It
Acknowledge that the love is there! The very love of God is already there, poured out, gushing out, and spilling forth in your heart! Stand on the authority of God’s Word.
2. Pray It
When you pray for others say, “Lord, I love . . . (Insert name)", and then move on with your petitions for that individual. When you begin praying this way, especially for someone who is difficult for you, your heart will often feel differently than when you first began to pray. This may lead you to actually praying differently and certainly more effectively!
3. Speak It
Tell others that you love them, and tell them that frequently! You can do this sincerely—because you have the unlimited love of God in your heart. Just like a mother or father can love more than one child equally, the love of God in your heart enables you to have genuine love for a multitude of people!
It’s an amazing reality to comprehend for sure! But I have embraced this truth from God’s Word—and while I am much more often the recipient of love covering moments, I’m actively seeking those moments out too!
So, the next time you get your nose put out of joint, or even worse, remember the powerful truth of God’s Word, and simply say, “Love covers!”
God bless you beloved in the Lord,
Christi
