“I believe one of the glories of women is the opportunity to spread the gracious spirit of love and peace as a fragrance and evidence of life in her home. It is a beautiful grace of godly women to behold--the fragrance of unconditional love and the art of spreading light, even in the dark places.”—Sally Clarkson
Love with fervent love.
“But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” ” (1 Peter 4:7-8)
In Greek, the word “fervent” has a very interesting definition. It is the root word that leads to “tense” or “tension.” It means “to stretch,” to “stretch out fully because completely taut.” It means, “maximum potential, without slack because fully extended to its necessary outcome.”
We see how this love is, therefore, a full and complete covering, stretched to tautness over a multitude of sins. But inherent within it is tension. This is not an easy love. It is a stretched love, a love that is fully extended. This is the love we are called to, a love that endures all things, a love that extends forgiveness and grace—which means something occurred to need forgiveness and grace. It is the love of long-suffering.
Not a single one of us can love like this. Only He who first loved us with sin-covering-love can supply what we need.
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