Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 12:9-10, The New International Version
One of the topics we discussed on Sunday was the importance of understanding, "hate what is evil; cling to what is good," as it relates to a discussion on relationships. Taken out of context it can mean a lot of things, but in a discussion about relationships, it simply means to not be caught up in the drama of sin, toil, hardship, and evil.
Our relationships stall because of the sins of others (and ourselves), and often those who are the hurters are either unaware of the trouble they are causing because of their brokenness or too underdeveloped spiritually to walk it through at that time, just like us when Jesus found us. We were all sinners who were broken and hateful.
This is where love comes in and turns the tide. Like Christ who gave His life for us while we were dead in our sins, so we get a chance to model that to others. Let's take a look at the concept through some other verses:
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.James 5:20
Consider this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover over a multitude of sins.1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.Proverbs 17:9
Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.
After reading these, we have to ask ourselves, "Am I practicing the covering of sins, or revealing them?" To hate evil is to remove it from our relationships. The best way to do that is to forgive it and/or cover it.
Here are our action plans today:
Take an inventory of your heart as it regards covering over sin or exposing the sins of others. Read through the verses above again and capture God's heart for atoning and covering for our sins.
Love covers over sins. Let's forgive the sins of others as God in Christ forgave ours.
Love,
Pastor Stuart