Valentines neither create it nor end it. “I love you” does not adequately state it. A beautifully wrapped gift with ribbons does not truly contain it. Merely saying it doesn’t convey our feelings. When we see it applied, we are blown away. Is there any wonder that we say, “love is a many splendored thing”?
We feel it when it is given, and when it is withheld. At our whim, we express it or suppress it, not realizing its inherent power. The power to absolve; the power to resolve; the power to cover; the power to restore; the power to atone; the power to forgive; the power to offer mercy and grace; the power to absorb insult, offense, and pain; the power to turn the other cheek.
Solomon said, “hatred multiplies conflict, but love absorbs offenses so they cannot destroy” (Proverbs 10:12 paraphrased).
Apostle Paul said, “love bears all things and endures all things” (1 Corinthians 13:7).
Apostle Peter said, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8).
In a world where offense and hatred are freely expressed, even encouraged, love is the only solution. Hatred is contagious and only multiply offenses, spreading the disease.
Love is unique. Love does not naively pretend that sin didn’t happen. Love intentionally, lovingly, deals with it. It is more important to deeply love than to deeply hate. Deeply embedded love is the most potent medicine for a hate-sick, offending society.
A medical doctor doesn’t sweep the patient’s illness under the bed. Rather, he intentionally assesses the symptoms and addresses the root cause. The doctor is deadly serious about stopping the illness in its tracks. That is what true love does, cures the sin and stops it from spreading.
Love is deeper than the farthest reaches of the universe. Love has no end. Love is earnest. Love is fervent. Love is not casual affection. Love is expensive and costs us something. Love chooses to absorb the hit rather than pass it on. Love decides the relationship matters more than being right. Love offers another chance when all other chances have been trampled; when it would be easier to walk away; when you have every right to do so. Love looks at someone’s failure and says, “This doesn’t have to define you. This doesn’t have to define us.”
Here is the paradox of love. Love kills sin, not through exposure and shame or by responding in kind, but by breaking the cycle. Love forgives what unforgiveness would multiply and use destructively. Hatred does what its author intends — it steals, kills, and destroys. Love steals the thief’s power, kills the impact of the hate, and destroys the intent of the destroyer.
Love doesn’t excuse or enable sin. Love defeats sin, destroys its power, prevents it from spreading, breaks its cycle, and makes room for new life.
The ultimate example of sin-killing love was Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave himself for us that we, through faith in him, could have eternal life instead of eternal death. It was the only sin-killing sacrifice acceptable to God (Ephesians 5:2). Let Christ’s love be the sin killer in your life today.
Love is also contagious. Share the love with those around you.