Love and Humility
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. - 1 Peter 4:8-9
In this letter, the Apostle Peter is speaking to Christians who were living in a society that was hostile to the people of Jesus. A place full of sin and corruption where people did and said whatever their hearts led them to do and say. And Peter tells them, “ABOVE ALL … keep loving one another earnestly”.
He is saying that more than anything else, set this as your highest priority, choose this as your greatest goal and desire, pursue this with your best effort, hold to this as the thing you are most willing to fight for. Your earnest, deep, sincere, constant love for one another. And never allow the state of the place where you live to be an excuse for a lack of love for one another.
Like the followers of Jesus in Peter’s time, Peter is calling us to a love that is not fragile or easily damaged. You see, the command to love one another earnestly doesn’t simply imply a certain level of desire but a certain level of strength. Earnest love carries the weight of a love that is willing and expecting to be strained and stretched. Willing and expecting to be painful and costly. And a love that will and expects to remain and endure, to be constant and steady. No matter the external hostility and corruption or internal struggle and messiness, this is a love that is dependable.
Friend, is this love currently your highest priority?
And does this currently describe the love you have for your church?
Respond to offenses with love
Peter then takes it a step further by showing how our earnest love for one another has an unexpected power. The power to cover all kinds of sins. He is clearly not talking about covering in terms of salvation. Only our faith in the finished work of Jesus can do that. So what does he mean?
Proverbs 10:12, the verse Peter has in mind as he writes this, is helpful. “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.”
Karen Jobes says it is helpful to understand this kind of love as patience, self-control, or restraint that refuses to allow wrongs done in a Christian community to grow and become infectious in that community. In other words, holding on to offenses has destructive power but earnest love for one another kills that seed before it ever has the opportunity to do any damage.
Church, notice the incredible freedom that’s offered in this command. This not only means we don’t have to carry offenses from one another anymore letting those seeds grow into resentment, anger, gossip, rejection, favoritism, or tribalism. But it also means we don’t want to anymore. Our love for one another, a love that is willing and expecting to be strained and stretched, is meant to free us from that.
So we refuse to delight in watering seeds we know only weaken unity.
We refuse to delight in finding, exposing, or sharing the faults of others.
We refuse to allow social media to control our feelings towards those with differing opinions.
We refuse to allow the political climate to control our level of patience and kindness.
We refuse to dig our heels in on things that are temporary more than eternal things.
We refuse to consume what feeds our stance more than what feeds our affections for one another and for Christ.
Why? Because for us … our earnest love for one another is our highest priority.
Friend, you and I are called, commanded even, to overlook sins against us because God has overlooked ours.
The promise from Him is this, “For I will be merciful toward their iniquities (sins), and I will remember their sins no more.” (Heb. 8:12). Remembering our sins no more does not mean God has forgotten them. In Scripture, when God remembers, it means he is going to act on behalf of His people or in judgment against His people. His promise is that He will not act on our sin the way we deserve because He already acted at the cross. Church, there is no higher standard. And what a privilege it is to imitate our God as we strive to keep loving one another earnestly.
Again, is this love currently your highest priority?
And does this currently describe the love you have for your church?
Welcome one another with joy
If you’re anything like me, practical examples are necessary. Thankfully that is exactly what Peter does. But notice, this is more than an example of how we are to love one another. It is also a command. Peter says, “Show hospitality to one another without grumbling.”
At the time of Peter’s writing, traveling missionaries and preachers depended largely on the hospitality of local churches. But this kind of hospitality was often costly as it would mark them as targets for persecution.
Though our hospitality may not place us in danger of the same level of persecution, there are a few things we must learn from this. Hospitality will often be costly. Hospitality should often involve people we wouldn’t normally associate with. And we must always seek for our hospitality to be marked by joy. The bottom line is this; followers of Jesus are called to excel at hospitality.
But if we’re honest, being hospitable can often feel like a burden. Scrambling to throw stuff into its proper place (although a locked room or closet will usually do). Rushing to get dinner ready and making sure plates, utensils, and drinks are out. Then hearing a knock at the door to welcome our guests acting like we’ve been ready for hours. On top of that, hospitality costs money, energy, time, privacy and comfort. Maybe you make excuses like your house or apartment is too small. Or that you are not a great cook. Or you are not that fun to be around and find it difficult keeping a conversation going. Or that your kids are a little too crazy.
Friend, can I simply say, invite them anyway. Let them see the chaos, and awkwardness of you trying your best to love them. Let them watch you sit on the floor to make sure they have a comfortable place to relax. Let them take a bite of your burnt chicken and overdone brownies.
Church, we need each other too much to let pride, embarrassment, or busyness keep us from being together. Life is hard. Following Jesus is hard. Keeping your head on straight while everyone on social media seems to be losing theirs is hard. Staying encouraged and ready to take what the day will bring is hard. Being married is hard. Being single is hard. Being a parent is hard. Being a student is hard. Being the only Christian in your family is hard.
Hospitality should be a natural part of our lives because we need one another. And hospitality should be a regular rhythm for us because that’s what earnest love often looks like.
I promise, it will always be worth it.
Friend, is this love currently your highest priority?
And does this currently describe the love you have for your church?