Love Covers

Love Covers.

Aimee  – March  2025 

“Love one another as I have loved you” (John 13:34-35)…
“Love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Peter 4:8)..
“Love is patient, love is kind, it is not self-seeking..”(1 Corinthians 13:4-7).
“Forgive 70 times seven” (Matthew 18:21-22)….
“Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:36)…..
“Bear with each other and forgive one another…” (Colossians 3:13)…
“If you do not forgive others, your Father will not forgive you.”(Matthew 6:14-15)…
“Do everything in love.” (1 Corinthians 16:14)..
“Clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” (Colossians 3:12) “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8).

There’s a lot here – but how? When you’ve been hurt, however it happened, how do you walk this out?

After all, the love of God is not just a concept, it is actioned. A sacrifice, and the very foundation of our faith. This is a love that redeems, restores, and forgives without condition. Through Christ, we have received a grace that covers our failures, a mercy that rewrites our story, and a love that pursues us even when we least deserve it. But this love was never meant to stop with us. Jesus calls us to extend the same redemptive love to others, forgiving as we have been forgiven, and loving as we have been loved. but what does that look like?

Holding the balance between grace and accountability is truth in love and it’s a learned art that requires us to humble ourselves, silence our skin and lean in.

So many of us struggle with the balance between truth and love. Some believe love means ignoring sin, while others think truth must be harsh to be effective. Some people think love means covering everything up, keeping the peace and secrets at any cost. Others swing to the other extreme exposing everything harshly in the name of truth. But Jesus modeled something different. He spoke the truth, but He did it in love (Ephesians 4:15). He didn’t shame the woman caught in adultery, but He also didn’t ignore her sin—He called her into freedom (John 8:11). Love that covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8) doesn’t mean hiding sin to avoid discomfort; it means choosing mercy over resentment. And sometimes, love means bringing things into the light. Exposure in God’s hands is never humiliation it’s healing. And this is what Love does, it ushers in truth and gifts freedom to all who are touched by it and walk in it.

Love covers a multitude of sins but is only effective when we choose to move in mercy over resentment. When we guard against bitterness and apathy. When we relinquish our right to be angry and trust a good and just God to make all things right. This too is so anti our very human nature that it takes a while to master.

At the same time, love is covering, releasing, and choosing grace. 1 Peter 4:8 tells us, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” This does not mean we ignore deep wounds or enable toxic behavior, but it does mean that we do not hold onto offense. Some wrongs do not need confrontation; they need forgiveness and help in the letting go.

Love chooses peace over grudges, mercy over bitterness, and redemption over retaliation. However, forgiveness does not always mean restoring a relationship to what it once was. Forgiveness isn’t denial. It isn’t pretending the wound doesn’t exist. It’s releasing the right to revenge and trusting God to handle justice. Forgiving someone doesn’t always mean letting them back into your life. Even Jesus didn’t force relationships with those who rejected Him. Healthy boundaries aren’t a lack of love, they’re a recognition of worth. Love says, “I release you from my resentment,” but wisdom says, “I won’t allow you to continue harming me.” God’s heart is for you to be healed, whole, and free, not stuck in cycles of pain.

Jesus makes it clear: “Freely you have received; freely give” (Matthew 10:8). We did nothing to earn the forgiveness we received. We could never deserve the mercy God has lavished on us. And just as Christ has poured out His love on us, we are called to pour it out on others. This means extending grace to those who wrong us, offering kindness to those who don’t deserve it, and choosing love even when it costs us our right to anger and our desire for justice. Choosing love requires our re-surrender. But giving love freely does not mean subjecting ourselves to cycles of hurt. Love that is freely given is also love that is deeply wise. Sometimes love means walking away. Sometimes love means setting a boundary. And sometimes love means holding on and believing for restoration. And to know what’s what we need to seek the Lord for wisdom.

If this is you, friend—if you want to move in love but the bitterness and sting still won’t let go—hear me: God isn’t rushing you. He’s okay with the process, as long as you’re bringing it to Him. He’s not asking you to push your pain aside or pretend it never happened. It happened. It hurt. And the scars still tug at you. Triggers still press on wounds that haven’t fully healed.

But here’s the thing—God knows rejection. He knows what it is to be betrayed, mocked, abused, and abandoned. He meets you in this space with compassion, not pressure. He’s asking you to start by trusting Him with the steps ahead. Healing, wholeness, and freedom are His heart for you.

Every hardship, every painful place, is an invitation to draw closer to Him. He longs to fill you to overflowing—so that, in time, His love in you will pour out onto others. But for now? Just bring it to Him. Let Him walk you through it.

Redemptive love is radical. It is undeserved. It is transformative. And it is the very heartbeat of God. When we choose to move in His love—through truth, through grace, through forgiveness we testify to the power of the Gospel, becoming the living expression of Christ’s love in a world longing for redemption and we are set free and made whole in the process.

 Be blessed,

Aimee

Bold Existence Team