"LOVE COVERS SIN"

The wise man wrote:..."But love covereth all sins." (Proverbs 10:12). I guess the hardest thing about this passage is believing it.

God's love does not depend on how good I am, or how good I have been. God loves me, even when I was deep in sin. Even when I was a sinner, His love was sent forth for me. Where is the person who sins not? And, why do we keep going around labeling sins, as though some will keep your out, but others are o.k.?

If all the things I might be able to do for my brethren, if I could just get them to accept what God says about forgiveness, I would feel I had accomplished much. Why do we find it hard to believe that God forgives? Is it because we do not forgive as we should? Do we feel that God acts with us as a human acts with another? God is not a man.

If I thought my salvation was dependent upon my own perfection, apart from the blood of Christ, I would have quit a long time ago. The fact of the matter is that none of us can ever be good enough on our own. That is why Christ died.

God's love for me covers my sin with the blood of Christ. The Bible does not say, "If you never sin again, you will be forgiven." It does, however, declare: "If we walk in the light, as He is in the light,...the blood of Jesus his Son cleanseth us from all sin." (I John 1:7).

Note that I underlined the word ALL above. For we get to thinking that we are the ones above all others, we never sin, we never do wrong...well, that is not what God says. He tells us that "If we say that we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" (I John 1:8). This does not mean that we go around just looking for some sin to get into, but it does mean that we are forgiven as long as we walk in the light. David was responsible for a man loosing his life. He took the man's wife, also. And when we look at that story, we just don't get the point. David was a man after God's heart, because he saw his sin, and acknowledged it. David never once denied his love for God. He walked with God. Did he ever sin? Yes, indeed! Terrible things, David did. But, God loved David. God forgave David.

Too many people give up without a fight. Too many think that because they sinned, that there is no way for them. No, friends, what it means is that we are human, after all! It lets us see that God's love really does cover all sins.

Once we understand this principle, we will be happier people. We will accept ourselves, and we will begin to accept others, too. I am not talking about being one who tolerates any and everything. We are not talking about tolerating sin. I am talking about being human and acting such toward others. Realizing that any of us can stumble at anytime, ought to make us more understanding of each other.

Have you ever been frustrated and just felt like giving up? Do you think no good is going to happen in your life? Have you ever said: "Lord, I just can't do it!"? Well, if so, listen to this...We cannot make it without help. As long as we trust in our own weak selves, as long as we think that we can do it all on our own, then, we will never get the point and reason for redemption. it is the point of redemption to save us from that which we cannot save ourselves...the awful guilt of sin. Help is available. "I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help comes from the Lord, which made heaven and earth." (Psalm 121:1,2).

Yes, our real need is to understand that we could never be good enough...without Christ. Without God's help...without Christ, I cannot make it. No wonder Christ said that this gospel of forgiveness must be preached to the whole world..."He that believes and is baptized shall be saved" (Mark 16:16).

- Dan Carter