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Biblical Love (Part 2): Love Deeply, Discerning Love


Love Deeply

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).  

 Love does not overlook sin. Love sees sin, then covers it—in this case, covers lots of it. We know that God’s love is like this, but is ours? The command is directed towards us.  

“You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea” (Micah 7:19). Deep love provides deep cover. Deep love keeps no record of wrongs (1 Cor. 13:5). It forgives others, regardless of the magnitude or quantity of sins. It banishes sins for good. It does not remember them so that it can bring them up later.

However, we are not to cover our own sins: “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy” (Prov. 28:13).

Discerning Love

“We know that ‘We all possess knowledge.’ But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God” (1 Cor. 8:1-3).

Knowledge and love do not necessarily go together. You can easily have one without the other.

“And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ” (Phil. 1:9-10). Paul assumes that love is natural for believers. He prays that the love the Philippians have would abound and that it would be accompanied by knowledge and depth of insight. The New King James Version translates this “knowledge and all discernment.”

There are two reasons for having discerning love:

·       That we may approve what is excellent. If we have love without discernment, we will end up loving (and thus approving of) things we should not.

·       That we may be pure and blameless.

These reasons are closely tied, for if we approve what we should not approve, we will not be blameless.

It is easy to have love without discernment if you do not have a biblical definition of love. Discerning love does not approve of sin. It recognizes things which are neither pleasant nor good. Many people mistakenly think that love does not allow for disapproval. They turn it into something gooey and sweet and, consequently, sticky and messy.

How do we obtain discerning love? We get it by desiring it and by asking God for it. Many Christians do not desire it because having discerning love puts them in awkward situations. Others desire discernment only so that they can be critical.

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