ROBERT THORTON RELATED the following incident from his childhood…
“In the middle of one of my parents’ more memorable disagreements, my father jumped up from the table, grabbed two sheets of paper, and said to my mother, ‘Let’s make a list of everything we don’t like about each other.’
Mom started writing. Dad glowered at her for a few minutes, and then wrote on his paper. She wrote again. He watched her, and every time she stopped, he would start writing again. They finally finished. ‘Lets exchange complaints,’ dad said. They gave each other their lists. ‘Give mine back,’
mom pleaded when she glanced at his sheet. All down the page dad had written: ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.'”
In the the long ago, Peter prayed,
7 “But the end of all things is at hand; therefore be serious and watchful in your prayers. 8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.”] 9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. 10 As each one has received a gift, minister it to one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God. If anyone ministers, let him do it as with the ability which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 4:7-11
Please pay special attention to what Peter said about love. We are to have love above all things. It is to be first. Furthermore, please note that it is to be fervent. It is not to be lukewarm. Finally, please note that it is to be flourishing. It must cover a multitude of sins. Perhaps, it must cover them on many occasions.
How easy it would be to make a list of things that we do not like about one another. However, what we really need is to give love its proper place in our relationships one with another. Wade Webster, “I Love You, I Love You, I Love You,” The Searcher, August 15, 2010, 1
“Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5 does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” 1 Corinthians 13:4-7