The Nature of Love

1 Peter 4:7 The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.8 Above all, akeep fervent in your love for one another, because blove covers a multitude of sins.9 Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

If you are sober (realizing the our unworthiness of the grace we have received - and the serious need of the message we bear) in spirit and having sweet communion with God, then you ought to be looking where that should lead us to - to a love fervent.

The word "fervent," ektenes, means to be stretched, to be strained.

It means intense, strenuous, reaching as far as you can reach to the limit of your capacity. Since you are a Christian and since being a Christian means you love the brethren, "fervently love one another from the heart, for you have been born again." This is a fundamental Christian truth. He is not speaking a fluffy kind of sentimentalism which some used to call "sloppy agape". Peter is talking about a demanding love. He's talking about an intense love. He is talking about a sacrificial love.

So just how do you accomplish this feat? You first have to get over yourself. You have to be willing to love the unlovely, the unlovable, loving your enemies, loving those who despised you, loving when it seems unreasonable, loving to the point of sacrifice - to where it costs and it hurts. This means loving the unlovable in spite of insult, in spite of injury, in spite of being rejected, in spite of being mistreated and misrepresented.

1 Corinthians 13 puts it this way: "Love is patient, love is kind, is not jealous, love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things and never fails."

It can take anything from anyone at any time. It believes the best. It hopes for the best. It endures the worst.

Why love the brethren this way? "Because love covers a multitude of sins." Love forgives and forgives and forgives.

Proverbs 10:12. "Hatred stirs up strife but love covers all sins."

Love always hides a multitude of sins. Why did God show mercy to us? Why did God forgive our sins?

Ephesians 2:4-5 "For His great love where with He loved us."

Do you want to live right before God? To be biblically and spiritually minded. To have deep in communion with Christ. Then be so full of overflowing love that you cover sin. This is not speaking of an unrepentant person. But rather we are not to be more anxious to point out sin than we are to cover it over.

Hatred, selfishness both stir up strife. Selfishness will stir up strife. Love will cover up sin in silence.

The whole spirit of this is much bigger than just those we are like, it's embracing the fact that we are to love people outside our normal circle and to do it without grumbling, without murmuring, without begrudging. There is to be overflowing love toward those we don't know, an opening of our heart to them.

What then is the Christian's place in this world? It is to pursue holiness with God, to pursue others with the love of God so that we cover their sins, so that God using us will meet their needs whether they are a friend or stranger.

Colossians 3:14, "Above all things put on love which is the perfect bond of unity."

sherman