How far could your love go?
Could it cover history, transgressions made, could it resolve disputes that were not yours to begin with?
The bible asks us to remember that we are all the same - no sin is prettier or lesser than another sin. It completely negates grey areas. Wrong is wrong. Either you did or didn't. Either you're breathing or you aren't.
We commit sins all the time, much of the time, we sin against each other. Despite our good intentions, our choices reflect the strength of our will, and where our priorities lie. We hurt each other over and over. Good intent is not enough. The trouble is, the really good things in life - those that are priceless - they take forever to build but are wiped away so easily with one tiny crack in the wall.
And so you are left with the question - how far could your love go? Our frailty suggests that we have limits, coming to the end of how much our humanity can bear.
But yet there is grace. That spirit of grace that pushes us further when we know we cannot, and we sit there wondering how we could have gotten so far. It reminds us of our own shortcomings and failures, and how Jesus overlooks all of it anyway. This act of still accepting us despite being unworthy is what humbles us to start over. He accepts us even as we are unworthy because we were never worthy to begin with.
So then, the truth is love is not about being worthy is it? It is difficult not to talk about worth and being deserving when we hurt so easily. With forgiveness should come repentance - lest you make a mockery of love. And this is also why we need Jesus - because human love can only do so much and go so far; His love though truly covers a multitude of sins. He washes us clean and shows us the way. So when it is our turn to extend a gracious hand, we know we have no reason to withhold our own forgiveness and set ourselves free too.
Holding on to pain, hurt, anger and bitterness will eat you up inside. And letting it go doesn't mean what the other person did was right, or that you're okay. It just means you choose to move forward, with or without the one who hurt you, letting go of the pain and anger as much as you need to. And the enormous hole of pain that it creates in your heart is only left with a space that love can fill. Trust me, God can AND will fill it. But first you need to let go.
I'm learning my love has grown deep, wide and high - with its limits and aware of its humanity. I look to Him to show me the way, for I am lost without Him.
1Peter 4:8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.