My job is to have love

Above all things have fervent love for one another, for ‘love will cover a multitude of sins. (1 Peter 4:8)

 I have always been aware of love overlooking mistakes, inadequacies, quirks, and frustrating things about others. But this verse actually addresses love covering sin. Not just the random “I forgot to put that on my calendar,” or the friend that chews loudly. But sin—the things that hurt us, that separate us from God, that make it hard for us to love or forgive others, the things we know we could do better but aren’t really trying.
 This is a hard concept for me to express, because I feel like it’s all too easy to consistently fall on one extreme or the other—either “all grace,” which sometimes does flirt with compromise and acceptance of sin, or “all truth,” which leads me to being harsh and judgmental, unlike how Jesus would be. The reality is that both these extremes affect our usefulness to God and our relationship with others.
 The balance is a place where truth can be exalted as it should be, but grace can be given, as it also should be. God’s Word provides a guide for life—and it can certainly change someone’s life—but I don’t have the ability to make anyone righteous, and that’s not my job. My job is to have love, which God’s Word says covers a multitude of sins. —Marie Alvero [1]

 We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. —Martin Luther King Jr.

[1] Activated That Big Love