Loving each other

1 Peter 4:8

And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."

Yes it has been a long time! A lot has changed since the last post in June. I graduated university, traveled to Australia and New Zealand and I came back a different guy. A lot has changed and is about to change in our church in Amsterdam, but our God stays the same.

More and more this verse lives in my heart. This has such a huge impact. To me it is a game changer. The point is very simple. We are no saviors. Jesus is the Savior alone. If that is the case, this verse points exactly to what we are supposed to do. We are to show the world how much Jesus loves them. How much we love them.

We know that the Bible mentions different types of love. The word for love in this context is a form of philos, meaning brotherly love. This is exactly what it means: the way we love people and to what extent can actually cover a multitude of sins. This is radical. We do not take away sins, because that is not something we can do. But this is something that is bigger than most of us know. Your love is powerful!

In verse 10 Peter mentions something else that seems very critical to me, because this how we show love to each other. Loving others is not just something verbal, it requires physical action. "As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another." Ministering each other sounds great, other translations mention it as - and the meaning of minister in this context is - serving. Serve each other with the gift you received from God. This is how we show love to each other.

Love never fails.