Spiritual Contemplations for those who serve the Lord |
“And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.'” (1 Peter 4:8) Introduction The subject of this month's article is fervent love and its wonderful effect on our hearts and emotions as well as the blessings wrought by it. By the nature of our calling we, servants, come face to face with human weaknesses and shortcomings; and we are called to deal with them not only in love but to do so fervently. Ardent love does miraculous behavioral changes. These alterations are manifested in four virtues. 1. Tolerating A heart full of compassion finds excuses for a brother's fault without lingering too long nor too much on those mistakes. While the apostles were impatient with the multitude pushing them away from the Master considering them ignorant and chaotic, Our Lord Jesus Christ regarded the people as a herd in need of a shepherd never complaining about their pressing hard and close to Him. “But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, 'The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.'” (Matthew 9:36-38). “Then little children were brought to Him that He might put His hands on them and pray, but the disciples rebuked them. But Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' And He laid His hands on them and departed from there” (Matthew 19:13-15). What a lesson for all the servants who appoint themselves soldiers ordained to chastise, scold and threaten; forgetting that they are called to be compassionate, loving teachers. Fervent love creates a new prospect of kindness towards people rejecting their bad behavior while still loving them; understanding the inherent weakness of the human nature which is shared by all people. The same mistakes you hate are the same mistakes and many more with which Satan tempts you causing you to fall in their snare away from the eyes of the public. This type of tolerance is the reality that God had revealed to Jonah when He explained to him the reason for wanting to save Nineveh. “And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons who cannot discern between their right hand and their left—and much livestock?” (Jonah 4:11). Son of Sirach offers an advice on how to treat the elders, “Son, support your father in his old age, and do not grieve him in his life. And if his mind should fail, show kindness; and do not spurn him when you are in your strength. For almsgiving to the father will never be forgotten. For even in return for the sin of the mother, good will be repaid to you” (Sirach 3:14-16). The best example of forbearance offered by the Holy Bible is that of Jacob. His love for Rebekah led him to relentlessly bear Laban's tyranny who deceived him into serving double the time they had first agreed upon. There is no human interpretation for Jacob's performance except his internal stamina and love for Rebekah that urged him to accept to work seven more years that seemed like a few days.
Let us learn genuine covering of our brethren's sins from our Lord Jesus Christ Who in spite of the Pharisees' endeavor to defame and execute the woman found in adultery; yet artistically He covered her sins encouraging her to stop sinning and offer repentance. So many people are in the same situation as that woman and are in need of cover instead of exposure because they are exposed enough before themselves covered only with shame and low selfesteem. Our Lord Jesus Christ recommended and reciprocated mercy. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy” (Matthew 5:7). “And above all things have fervent love for one another, for 'love will cover a multitude of sins.'” (1 Peter 4:8). 3. Forgiving Fervent love does not know hatred, or live with resentment or hard feelings; because that would be contradictory to the nature of love. If you cannot forgive even the big grievances, how can you love? Our Lord Jesus Christ stated the principal, “You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matthew 7:16-20). Lack of forgiveness is lack of love; and the inability to forgive springs from the inability to love. We do not often talk about the loving heart of the prodigal son's father. However, such pristine quality deserves more attention. Despite the grievous offence directed to him from the ungrateful son, whose act implied inheriting his father like a dead person would be inherited; yet the father met that ingratitude with immense love. Every day he would wait for his son's return with a heart full of love and an attitude full of forgiveness and readiness to erase the son's deeds as if nothing had happened. The father was preoccupied not with seeing the situation fixed, but with seeing his son's heart and mind fixed. Lack of forgiveness has closed hearts and homes and opened the court doors wide open for divorce and the destruction of the family structured and blessed by God. God has always been in favor of forgiveness, ready to implement it; “'Remember these, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are My servant; I have formed you, you are My servant; O Israel, you will not be forgotten by Me! I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, and like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.'” (Isaiah 44:21-22). “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). It was for salvation and the forgiveness of sins that Christ came to our world. “And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:14- 15). 4. Appreciating Appreciation is an offspring of love. Where there is no love there is no appreciation. To appreciate someone is to value them and praise their performance no matter how trifle it might be. Accumulated insults lead to hardening of the heart leaving no room for reconciliation. Hence the common expected question, "how can I forgive all these offenses that are beyond human capacity?" Human capacity is limited when it comes to dealing with hurtful or traumatic situations. However, the only solution resides with grace granted by the Holy Spirit. Only God's grace is capable of upholding us. Conclusion
Fervent love inspired and upheld by the Holy Spirit, does wonders in terms of giving energy to appreciate each other, forgive insults, forget offences and cover up for others' sins. “Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away” (1 Corinthians 13:8). The virtue of love is not inherent in us. We receive it from God, the source of all love. “He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes” (1 John 2:10-11). “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another ” (1 John 4:8-11). “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold. But he who endures to the end shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:12-14). May God the source of all love fill our hearts with genuine fervent love. The message of fervent love is the only message of hope we, servants, can deliver to a sinner burdened with sin and to a world filled with the venom of hatred. “But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears, because the Lord’s flock has been taken captive” (Jeremiah 13:17). “Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 'He who scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him as a shepherd does his flock.'” (Jeremiah 31:10). “As a shepherd seeks out his flock on the day he is among his scattered sheep, so will I seek out My sheep and deliver them from all the places where they were scattered on a cloudy and dark day” (Ezekiel 34:12).
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